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Happy is the family that has a history, and fortunate the man or ivoman tvho can point ivith 

pride to such ancestors. 



HISTORY 



Captain John Kathan 



First Settler of Dummerston, Vt. 



HIS ASSOCIATES AND FAMILY DESCENDANTS, AND THE MOORES, THE 

FROSTS, THE WILLARDS, ALLIED BY MARRIAGE TO THE 

KATHANS. ALSO A PARTIAL ACCOUNT OF WILLIAM 

FRENCH AND DANIEL'HOUGHTON, THE 

FIRST MARTYRS OF THE 

REVOLUTION 



By DAVID L. MANSFIELD 

Author of History of Dummerston 



ILLUSTRATED 



1902 ■ , >> ' 

E. L. HILDRETH &;qO. 
BRATTLEBORO 



a^l 



.K>^ 



t 



Ao'^ 



37 ^iV 
'OS, 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Frontispiece, Kathan Meadows 

Sugar Orchard, Oldest in Vermont 4 

Alexander Kathan's Farm 21 

Famous Gun, Powder Horn, and Name Plate 35 

Luke Kathan 42 

Jacob Frost 51 

Dolly Kathan Frost 56 

Clarissa Kathan Bigelow 6S 

Thomas Alexander Kathan 82 

Reid Alexander Kathan 89 

George Frank Kathan 91 

John Kathan 93 

Louisa Kathan Knight 95 

Maria Knight Bond 96 

William H. Bond 98 

H. H. Morse Bond 99 

Gardner S. Kathan 104 

Robert Kathan 107 

Orrin Kathan loS 

George Kathan 109 

John Alexander Kathan no 

Truman Kathan 116 

Dayton L. Kathan, M. D 117 

Charles H. Kathan 120 

Plan of Fort Dummer 14" 



INDEX. 

Comprising the Names of Kathan, Also Other Names 
Prominently Mentioned in this Volume. 



PAGE 

Allen. 

Colonel Ethan. . . .12, 27, 28, 33, 38 
Newman, Esq 16 

Arms. 

Major John 15 

Josiah 16 

Bellows. 

Colonel Benjamin 

5, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 13, 15, 71. 83, 135 
Judith 15. 71. S3- 135 

BUTTERFIELD. 

Benjamin, Esq 27, 33 

General Franklin G 122 

Bradley. 

Hon. William C 34 

General Stephen R 52 

Bemis. 

Joseph 4 

Joshua (Rev. Soldier) 124 

Barber. 

Mrs. George F 1 24 

BiGELOW. 

Paine 67, 68 

Clarissa Kathan 68, 6g, S3 

Ellen C S3 

Bond. 

Dea. Henry E. 95, 96 

Maria Louise 96 

William H 96 

H. H. Morse 96 

Brush, Crean 26 

Brown, Elijah (Rev. Soldier). ... 42 
Bouton, Dr. (State Papers). ... 10 

Burnham, Gideon 42 

Cooper. 

Robert 12 

Aaron 12 

Joshua 12 



PAGE 

Cooper. 

Daniel 12 

Daniel, Jr 12 

Gideon 12 

Cook, Enoch 25-38, 39, 41 

Cole, Larkin G 94, loi 

Davenport. 

Charles 26, 41, 42, 54 

Charles, Jr 113, 114 

Mary (Hart) 41 , 42, 50 

Dwight. 

Lieut. Timothy 146 

Timothy, Jr 69, 146 

Daniel 142 

DUTTON. 

David i8 

Asa 57 

William A 94, 96, 97 

Adin A 93, 94, 98, 99, loi 

Myron F 99 

Hattie A 100 

Jennie Frances 100 

Thomas, Sr 9S, 99 

Samuel 99 

Eastwood. 

William 67. 68 

Mrs. William 63 

French. 

William 25, 35, 38 

Nathaniel 28, 29 

Flarida. 

James 43 

John 43 

Frost Families, 121-124 

Frost. 

Jesse 121 

Benjamin 49, 55, 56, 121, 122 

Jacob 49. 56, 123, 124 



INDEX. 



Gay, Rev. Bunker 13, 14, 51 

Goodwin, John .66, 67, 6S, 83 

Gates. 

Lieut. John Shepard 43, 54, 57 

Shepard 43, 52 

Lieut. Daniel 54, 67 

HiGGINS. 

Joseph 18 

Uriah 18 

Alpheus 18 

Caleb 18 

Joshua 18 

Caleb and Lucy loi 

Holgait, Asa. . 5, 13 

Harvey, Dr. Solomon 

25. 27, 37, 38, 40, 41, 129 
Houghton. 

Daniel 27, 30, 37, 130 

Cyrus and Family 30 

Haven. 

Ebenezer 37, 38, 42, 54 

Abel 42 

Joseph 43 

Joel 47 

Hobbs, Capt. Humphrey 127 

His Gallant Fight 127, 128 

Hooker, John 37, 39, 131 

Hildreth, Joseph 41, 54 

Hoar. 

John 46 

Samuel 46 

Senator George F 46 

Master John 46 

Johnson. 

Moses 14, 15, 136, 137, 141 

Abel 43 

Capt. Ashbel 43, 137 

Edward M 91 

Kathan. 
Capt. John. . . .3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 16, 
17, 18, 19, 20, no. III, 119, 125, 
127, 131, 133, 134, 135, 136, 146 

His Sawmill 5, 60, in 

Alexander, Esq 5, 

13, 21-25, 35-50, 93, 98, 125, 
126, 128, 129, 130, 134, 138, 141 

Lieut. Daniel 5, 13, 26, 43, 

51-58, 113, 119, 122, 123, 134, 143 



Kathan. 

Col. Charles. ...5, 14, 59-62, 66, 119 

Margaret 12, 13, 14, 136 

Mary 13, 14, 69 

Martha 13, 72, 134 

Esther 12, 13, 72, 133, 134, 135 

John, Jr. (1732-1802) 

5, 64-66, 69, 125, 131, 136 

Mary 21, 91, 92, 125, 129 

John (1758-1S33). .21, 91, 92, 125, 129 

Daniel, Second 21, 84, 129, 130 

Thomas 21, 91, 93, 129 

Elizabeth 21, 91 

John (1790-1859) 92, 93, 94, 130 

Polly 92 

Charles 54, 1 13 

Susanna 54 

Eunice 54 

Rufus 54 

Daniel, Jr 54, 119 

Lydia 54, 121, 122 

Phebe. 54 

Dolly 54, 123, 124 

John (1769-1842) 66 

James 66 

John, Jr. (1797) 66 

Sally 66 

Jane 66 

Hosea 66 

Orvilla 66 

Horace 66 

Eliza 66 

Alfred 66 

Fernando 66 

Clarissa 66-69 

Thomas (1788-1816) 84, 87 

Lucy 84 

Caty 84 

Anna 84 

Emory 84, 85, 86 

Wyman Lamb 84, 86, 87 

Orison 84 

Amandrin 84 

Marinda 87 

Eliza 87 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Kathan. 

Lucius H 85 

Theodore E 85 

Olive Adaline 87 

Eliza Arena 87, 88 

George W 87, 88 

Daniel Thomas 87 

Thomas Alexander 87, 88, 89 

Sarah Jane 88 

Agnes C 88 

Cora Eliza 88 

Reid Alexander 88, 89, 130 

Louisa 94, 95, 96 

Horace 94, 96 

Aurelia S 94, 96 

Adaline E 94, 97, 98, 104 

Fanny M 94. 98 

Ellen E 94, loi 

John H 94, 97, loi 

George Frank 46, 94, loi, 130 

Kingsley S 94, 102 

Henry H 94, 102 

Edward P loi 

Lilla E 102 

Myrtie E 102 

Lila J 102 

David 17, 65 

Gardner 17, 65, 112, 126, 137 

Prentice. ..17, 65, 109, iii, 112, 126 

Betsej' 65 

Lois 65 

Gardner 104 

Robert 104 

Henry 104 

Gardner, Jr 104, 113 

Betsej' ro4, 106 

Richard 104, 106, 107 

Stephen 104 

Orrin 97, 104, 107, 108 

John 104 

George 104 

Gardner S 104, 105 

Robert L 104 

Elizabeth M 104 

Nellie S 104, 105 



PAGE 

Kathan. 

Henry B 105 

Eliza 105 

Norman 105 

Dorr W 105, 106 

John Alexander 105, 106 

Frances Elizabeth 105 

Helen 105 

Riley H 105 

Nettie E 105 

Warner H 105 , 106 

George E 105, 106 

Willie G 105 

Clara L 106 

Charlie G 106 

Arthur L 106 

Lefranc C 106 

Bertha J 106 

Dexter W 106 

Walter E 106 

Russell C 106 

Adeliza E 106 

Fannie A 106 

Frank E 106 

Ora 106 

Fannie H 106 

Betsey 107 

Robert 105, 106, 107 

Mary 107 

Sarah 107 

Charles Crawford 107 

Mary Alice 107 

Cora Emma 107 

Florence Abbie 107 

Addie S 108 

Sarah J 108 

Charles H loS 

Charlotte 109 

Adahne 109 

Almira 109 

John Alexander 109, i ro 

Frank A 109 

Fred E 109 

John W 109 

Alice C 109, no 



INDEX. 



Kathan. 

Charles, Jr 113, 114 

Lucy 113 

Lydia 113 

Willard 113, 114 

Daniel 113, 114, 115 

Ruth 113 

Jerusha 1 04, 113 

Luke 113, 114. 115, iiS 

Polly 113, 114, 116 

Ransalier 113, 114, 116 

Susan 113 

Charles, Jr 114 

Edison 114 

James 114 

Alvira 114 

Joseph , 114 

Stephen 114 

Orange 114 

George 114 

Laura 114 

Almira 114 

William 115 

Alonzo 115 

Russell 115 

Lewis 115 

Addison 115 

Alvira 115 

Robert 115 

Alice 115 

Helena 115 

Mary 115 

Caroline 115, uS, 119 

Emeline 115, nS 

Truman 115, 116 

Sarah .115, rxS 

Betsey 115, ng 

Alvira 115, nS 

Amy 115, 118 

Barbary 115, nS 

Mary 115, nS 

Martha 115, nS 

Orange 115, 118 

Hugh 115, 118 

Harmon 115, 118 

Monroe 115, 118 

James 115, iiS, Tig 



Kathan. 

Isaac 116 

John ... 116 

Charles 116 

Diana 116 

Adaline 116 

Myra 116 

Henry 116 

Libbie 116 

Wallace. . 116 

Lydia 116, 117 

Luke 116, 117 

Clark 116, 117 

Dayton L 113, 116, 117 

Freelove 116 

Fred 116 

Hamlin 116 

Jennie 116, 117, 118 

Frank ir6, 118 

Sherman 116, 118 

Lucy 116, 118 

Roland 117 

Fanny 119 

Maria 119 

Lavinia 119 

Louisa 119 

HoUis 119 

Caroline 119 

Mayor Charles H 45, 119, 120 

Kathrf.ns. 

Mary 125 

Robert 125 

Lieut. Samuel 125 

Kilbury, John 42 

Knight. 

Samuel 26, 28 

Capt. Jonathan. .37, 40, 41, 52, 130 

Joel 52 

Wilder 94, 95 

Jerome W 95 

Maria Louise 95, 96 

Jesse 9 1 

Asa 78 

Russell 18 

KiLBURN. 

Capt. John and Family 7 

His Gallant Fight 5-10 



INDEX. 



XI 



Kellogg, Capt. Josiah 12, 147 

Kimball, John (Lawyer) 79 

Lamh. 

Lieut. James 84, 85 

Olive 84 

John and Abigail 84 

Col. Joshua 85 

Charles and Silas 85 

Fletcher 85 

Russell 85 

Laughton. 

Jacob 85 

Sally 85 

Lull, Capt. Timothy 140 

Lynch, John 108, 109 

Miller. 

Capt. Isaac 24, 42, 52, 53 

Hosea 37 

Isaac, Jr 52, 53, 54 

Joseph 53 

Tillotson 42 

Maj. William 42 

Capt. Vespasian. 100 

Joseph (Town Clerk) 100 

Adin F 100 

Miner, Charles 47 

Melvin, Capt. Eleazer, Defeated 
by the Indians 127 

Moore Families. 

Of Central Massachusetts. . . .71-83 

Of Putney, Vt 76 78 

Of Dummerston 78-80 

Allied to Kathans S3 

MooRE. 

Capt. Fairbanks 

II, 12, 14-16, iS, 71, 72 

Fairbanks, Jr 11, 12, 72 

Benjamin 11, 12-15, 16. 72 

John (Immigrant Ancestor) . . . 

71, 80, 81 
Jacob (of Sudbury, 1645). .72, 73, 74 

Jacob (1668) 74 

Capt. James (1693) 73, 74 

Asa (1719) 73 

Asa (1744; 74 

Martha (1752) 67, 74, 83 

Martha (1704) 11, 72 

Capt. Abijah 76 



MooRE. 

Jonas 72 

His House Sacked 132 

William, His Conduct 140, 141 

Dr. Jonathan 78, 79 

His " Essence of Life " 79 

Olcott, Timothy 27 

Patterson (Sheriff) 27 

Puffer, LB 46 

Peck, Thomas Bellows 134, 136 

Plympton (Sergeant) 142 

Pierce, Marshall 126 

Phillips, John C 126 

Quayle, Oliver A 91 

Rhoades. 

John 42 

Eleazer 42 

Hannah 42 

Rowlandson, Mrs. Mary 45, 142 

Captive to King Philip 142 

Sackett, Indian Chief 127 

Sargeant. 

Digory 12 

Lieut. John 12, 69, 70 

Col. John 3, 69, 70 

Col. William 16, 43 

James H 14, 69 

Elihu 91 

Eli 14 

Spaulding. 

Lieut. Leonard 121, 130, 132 

Joanna 121 

Stickney, Peter (Rev. Soldier).. 77 

Schuyler, Col. Peter 15 

Temple, Joseph 37, 131 

Timson, Col. Julius C 102, 103 

Underwood. 

Timothy 12, 17 

Phineas 17, 126 

Walpole, Sir Robert 11 

Wentworth, Gov. Benning...4, 7, 12 



WiLLARD. 

Capt. ^Nathan , 



.11, 131. 147 



Xll 



WiLLARD. 

Col. Josiah 15, 82, 147 

Henry 71 

Susanna 72 

Jonathan 72 

Unity and Amity 72 

Prentice "S, 82 

Williams, Col. Israel 127 

"Williams, Rev. John 142 

Williams, Col. Ephraim 20 

Williams, William 27 

Wright, Widow Mary 14 

Winslow, Priscilla 14, iS 

White, Hon. Phineas 65, 79, no 

Wombough Family S7, 90 

Whittenhall Family 87, 90, 91 

Winne, Thomas J 91 

Whale. 

Philemon 81 

Elizabeth 83 

Yeager, Willard E 91 

Appendixes. 

A. Kathans in Massachusetts 125 

B. Kathan Meadows 126 



Appendixes. 

C. Sugar Orchard 128, 129 

D. Kathan's Famous Gun. 129, 130 

E. Men Wounded at West- 
minster 130, 131 

F. Complaint against Wil- 
lard 131, 132 

G. Jonas Moore's House 
Sacked 132, 133 

H. Fairbanks Moore, Jr. .133, 134 
I. Episode in Capt. Kathan's 

Family 134, 135 

J. First Burial in Town.. . 135, 136 

K. Kathan's Ferry 136 

L. Moses Johnson 136, 137 

M. Johnson House 137 

N. File of Old Almanacs 138 

and Law Books 138, 139 

O. Capt. Timothy Lull 140 

P. Conduct of William Moore. 

140, 141 
Q. Early Religious Worship. 

141, 142 
R. Revolutionary Soldiers. . . 

143-145 
Plan and Map of Fort Dummer.. 

146, 147 



PREFACE. 

On January i, 1901, the writer began the work of preparing this 
little volume or monograph for publication in the interest of the 
descendants of Capt. John Kathan, who began the first settlement 
in Dummerston January 5, 1752, almost one hundred and fifty 
years ago. The History of Dummerston was published in 1884 as 
a component part of the Vermont Historical Gazetteer, a local 
history of all the towns in the state. An edition of three hundred 
copies of the Dummerston history was struck off in advance of the 
Windham county volume, which was not issued until 1891. Since 
1884 a series of historical papers relative to Dummerston, furnished 
by the historian of the town, has been published from time to 
time in The Vermont Phoenix. One such, which appeared in Octo- 
ber, 1897, attracted the attention of a prominent business man in 
New York City, and the result was that he immediately visited 
Dummerston, the home of his ancestors, who were descend- 
ants of Capt. John Kathan. On his return to New York he 
awakened an earnest desire in his cousin, a prominent physi- 
cian in Schenectady, N. Y., and he also came to Vermont in 
quest of more knowledge of his Kathan ancestors. Still 
another cousin, a lady of good fortune, living in Roches- 
ter, N. Y., had preceded them a short time in visiting the same 
locality and secured valuable family history. They had pre- 
viously known very little about the early history of their 
Kathan ancestors. Therefore they combined their interests and 
asked for the publication of a Kathan history and genealogy of 
families. This volume naturally takes the form of narrative pages 
that it might be interesting to read as well as valuable for 
reference. The book is well illustrated by the favor and kindness 
of its customers, and the compiler has borne no part in the expense 
of procuring portraits. 

In the pages that follow are described the character and deeds of 
a few families in Dummerston who were pioneers in the march of 
civilization, patriots in the day of danger, and useful citizens in the 
time of peace. Much valuable information pertaining to these 
families has been rescued from forget fulness that the generations 



2 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

now living will rejoice to know. The compiler, in preparing this 
volume, is indebted to several persons for a knowledge of many 
important facts and incidents therein related. He is also greatly 
indebted to one of the assistant librarians in the Public Library of 
Lynn, Mass., for valuable material relative to the Moore families, 
allied by marriage to the Kathans, which enabled him to solve 
some intricate genealogical problems. This indebtedness to others 
he gratefully acknowledges, and also indulges the hope that the 
persons for whom the volume is written may receive some gratifi- 
cation from the perusal of the history of their ancestors. 

D. L. M. 

Dinnmcrston, J'^t., Novcnihcr i, 1901. 



Chapter I. 

CAPTAIN JOHN KATHAN. 

1707—1787- 

His Family Bible — Concerning the Charter of Dummerston — Cap- 
tain Kathan not a Charter Member — Plaee of Settlement — Bnilt 
the First Sazi'mill and Potash IVorhs in Tozi'n — His Fortified 
Honse Dnring the French and Indian War — John Kilburn's Gal- 
lant Defence Against the Indians in 1755 — Hozv Colonel Bel- 
lozi's Obtained the Grant of Walpole — Memorial Complaint 
Against the Commander of Fort Dnnimer — Captain Kathan's 
Associates in 1756 — Family Record From the Old Bible — Fair- 
banks Moor and Son Benjamin Killed by the Indians — Transac- 
tions in Real Estate — Site of the Old Fort — What Became of 
Captain Kathan's Widozc, Priscilla Winslozv Kathan — Captain 
John Kathan and Captain Fairbanks Moor Soldiers in French and 
Indian War. 

When the history of Dummerston was written for Miss A. M. 
Hemenway's pubHcation, The Vermont Historical Gazetteer, the 
historian of the town was favored in 1879 by the late Charles C. 
Frost of Brattleboro, Vt., a famous student and scientist, with an 
opportunity to examine and copy a brief record of Capt. John 
Kathan's settlement in the township of Fulham, now Dummerston, 
and a register of his family as recorded in a family Bible printed 
in 1 73 1. A few years after this circumstance Mr. Frost died. 
Soon after that event the author ag"ain sought an opportunity to 
examine the old Bible in regard to obtaining- information about the 
Sargeant family, a member of which. Col. John Sargeant, married 
a daughter of Captain John Kathan ; but the old Bible was not to 
be found among- ]\Ir. Frost's effects at the home of his son, Wells 
S. Frost, a merchant in business at Brattleboro. It is supposed 
that the Bible was loaned to some person a short time before Mr. 
Frost's death and not returned by the borrower. Therefore, the 
Kathan family record written therein and transcribed in 1879, 
would have been lost to the descendants had not the local historian 



4 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

been interested in the preservation of the early history of Dum- 
merston, as pubhshed in 1884, and supplementary historical infor- 
mation in subsequent articles printed in The Vermont Phoenix. 

Concerning the Charter of Dummerston. 

The names of the grantees of Fulham, now Dummerston, are 
fifty in number as entered and recorded in the "Charter Record," 
Volume I., page 185, which volume is kept in the office of the 
Secretary' of State for the state of New Hampshire, at Con- 
cord. The record of the charter was made under the province 
seal by Theodore Atkinson, secretary, and dated September 27, 
1753. The statement in Hall's History of Eastern Vermont that 
the township of Fulham was granted to Capt. John Kathan unitedly 
with a number of other persons who purchased the same from the 
New Hampshire proprietors, cannot be verified, as his name is not 
among the grantees. There is no record that any of the grantees 
settled in Dummerston. It is recorded, however, in the old Bible, 
printed in 1731, that John Kathan settled in Dummerston in 1752, 
as follows: "Jan. 5, 1752, John Kathan with his family Cam to 
settle at Bemas' rock on Conicut river in ye Government of New 
Hampshire eight miles from Fort Dummer." Bemis' Rock is 
located near the Putney railroad station and was named from 
Joseph Bemis, probably a rather noted individual in this region 
at that time. Several families named Bemis settled in Dummerston 
before the year 1800. The rock was doubtless a point of survey or 
a stopping place in voyages on the Connecticut river to different 
military posts. 

Location of First Settlement, 

The settlement made by John Kathan and his family in 1752 
was located in the northeast corner of the town on land belonging 
to His Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq., Governor and Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Province of New Hampshire in 1753. The 
township at that time contained nineteen thousand three hundred 
sixty acres, and was divided, according to the charter, into fifly-six 
shares. A full share contained four hundred acres, "two of which 
shares were laid out in one tract of the contents of eight hundred 
acres for His Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq., and in full 




Sugar Orchard and Dwelling House of Alexander Kathan, Esq. 



FIRST GENERATION. O 

for his two shares, which said tract is bounded, viz. : Beginning at 
the North East Corner of this town, then running down Con- 
necticut River two hundred and forty rods, then West lo degrees 
North, till eight hundred acres are completed." Consequently the 
Governor of New Hampshire was the owner of eight hundred 
acres in the northeast comer of the town in 1753 and not ''John 
Kathan and his eighteen associates with their families," who were 
said to be "rapidly subduing the forests of Fullum and accomplish- 
ing the conditions of their charter," as stated in Hall's History of 
Eastern Vermont. It is not probable that there were nineteen 
heads of families in town in 1754, inckiding John Kathan, as there 
were only forty-four heads of families in Dummerston in 1771 
when a census was taken by Constable Asa Holgait, a son-in-law of 
Captain Kathan. Possessing the qualities of industry and perse- 
verance, qualities especially necessary to the successful manage- 
ment of a new settlement, John Kathan, with his four sons, Alex- 
ander, then aged 22 years, John, Jr., aged 20, Daniel, aged 12, and 
Charles, aged 9 years, cleared and improved above 120 acres, built 
a good dwelling house, barn, sawmill and potash works, and in 
order to guard his improvements, was at considerable expense in 
building a fort around his house, and resided therein during the 
course of the French and Indian war which began in 1754 and 
ended in 1763. 

As evidence of John Kathan's wisdom and forethought in build- 
ing a fort for the protection of himself and family, an episode of 
Indian warfare, familiar to every school boy in New England, is 
here related, which is the gallant defence of his home by the first 
settler of Walpole, N. H., against a large band of Indians, August 
17, 1755- 

John Kilburn^ the Pioneer. 

In 1740 John Kilburn started from \\'ethersfield, Conn., stopped 
at Northfield, ]Mass., with his family, where he was taxed in 1741^ 
and then moved on to No. 3 township, which became Walpole, 
N. H. Kilburn 's settlement was only twelve miles up the Con- 
necticut river above the settlement of John Kathan made in 1752, 
and two miles below the "Great Falls," since named Bellows Falls 
after Benjamin Bellows of Walpole. 

The query is often made, by persons who have lived but a short 



6 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

time in Bellows Falls, from what circumstance comes the word 
"Kilhurn," the name of the noble mountain across the river in New 
Hampshire, and what is the origin of the word "Abenaqui," which 
seem entirely local in their use. The latter comes from Abenaquis, 
the Indian name for pines, which was the name of the most prom- 
inent of the three Indian tribes found by the French in the 
great basin of the St. Lawrence river when they began settlements 
in that region. Tradition says that long before the wdiite man 
came to this vicinity, there was a large Indian village of wigwams 
extending from the south end of Mount Kilburn, where the Fitch- 
burg station of Cold River now is, nearly a quarter of a mile south, 
and that it was a sub-tribe of the great Abenaquis, or Algonquins. 
From time immemorial the "Great Falls" had been the best fishing 
ground in all New England, and this tribe was here because of the 
ease with which food of this nature could be procured. Shad and 
salmon were the most plentiful here, at certain seasons of the year, 
of any place known. The salmon went above here each year, but 
the shad never were able to get over the falls and would accumulate 
at a certain season of the year in immense quantities in the "Great 
Eddy" that was just below the "Great Falls" as they were called. 
The blossoming of the shad tree was the signal for all the Indians 
for many miles around to gather about the falls for the purpose of 
salmon and shad fishing. 

The oldest inhabitants of the village at the present time talk of 
their parents and grandparents telling them that at that season of 
the year the surface of the water in the eddy would be perfectly 
alive and black with shad, so much so that it often seemed as if <i 
man might walk across upon the backs of the fish, and they could be 
readily caught and thrown out of the water in large quantities with 
the hands. This, even within the past loo years. It was a very 
profitable industry for the inhabitants to gather the fish, and ship 
them down the river by boats to the markets, after the boating 
was established by regular lines, as was described by The Phoenix 
in its issue of June ii. The salmon were a more gamey fish 
and were taken by both the Indians and early settlers by means of 
spears as they passed up the narrow places under where the bridges 
now are. 

The Abenaquis Indians used frequently to return here after 
they were driven away by the early settlers, and committed many 



FIRST GENERATION. 7 

acts of murderous nature, they being a very savage and vicious 
tribe. In the narrow defile between Mount Kilburn and the river 
was the Indian path over which they used to travel from Canada 
to the white settlements below, on their marauding expeditions. 
An early account of the life of the Indians in this vicinity says : 
"Imagination can see them now, perched upon the rocks, spear- 
ing the twenty-pound salmon, or scooping with their nets multi- 
tudes of shad, or, perhaps, crossing and recrossing in their bark 
canoes the basin below, while the old squaw was doing the drudger}' 
about the huts, the papoose, half naked, wallowing in the filth, and 
the dusky maiden loitering about in the shade of the stately elms, 
stringing her ornaments and wampum. 'Twas here, it may be, 
they held their orgies and concocted their hellish designs on the 
white settlers." 

Under such circumstances it seems almost incredible that any 
one could have the courage, hardihood, or even temerity to plant 
himself in a howling wilderness, far removed from any friendly 
habitation and nearly in the jaws of hostile Indians, but in the year 
1/49 John Kilburn is found with Ruth, his wife, Mehitable, his 
daughter, and John, his son, living as the very first white settler, 
in a small log hut about a quarter of a mile south of Cold River 
station. The exact site of his cabin is now marked by a tablet on 
the east side of the river road leading to Walpole, near the residence 
of yir. Rawson, the stage driver. 

John Kilburn had received from the state of New York a charter 
of all the land which later became the town of Walpole, and for 
some years held undisputed title, but in 1752 Col. Benjamin Bel- 
lows and sixty-seven others received a charter to the same lands 
from Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire, which 
charter was signed in 1761 by King George III., it being in the 
first year of his reign. Thus Kilburn, the first settler, also held 
title to the whole town, which was later superseded, in the contro- 
versy between New York and New Hampshire, by the govern- 
ment, which gained the day in the controversy. Kill)urn gave up his 
land very reluctantly to Bellows and his companions, and the town 
was many years called "Bellowstown," Kilburn still residing there. 
The records of the town show that he often held various offices of 
trust in the vicinity, in later years. 

When Kilburn first moved into his log cabin he built a palisade 



6 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

around it and made what further provision he could for the })ro- 
tection of his family. He often sought to live on friendly terms 
with the Indians, who rejected all overtures for peace and studi- 
ously avoided him. Kilburn had lived in this place two or three 
years before Colonel Bellows came to settle, and during this time 
he was not only exposed to the inclemency of severe storms in his 
rude hut, and to all the hardships and trials incidental to frontier 
life, but was living in constant fear of attack. It is said that 
during the day he never dared to go further than a few rods from 
his cabin without his gun. At night the ground was his bed, with 
a bearskin for covering and a powder box for his pillow. Many 
times during his absence the Indians are said to have visited his 
home and to have stolen all that could be carried away. Between 
175 1 and 1755 a company of Indians came down the river and 
landed above the falls. They invited Kilburn to trade with them, 
and for a time peace and apparently good will reigned supreme. 
They continued to hunt and fish in the neighborhood for some 
time, and as no acts of violence or vandalism were committed the 
settlers began to feel a little more secure. 

On August 17, 1755, was fought the famous Kilburn fight. The 
fighting began about noon and lasted for six hours, during which 
time a large number of Indians were killed, and only one white man 
was wounded, who subsequently died. According to the records, 
John Kilburn and his son, then eighteen years of age, and two 
other men were returning from work about noon, when a number of 
Indians were seen in the thickets. The men at once made for the 
cabin, which was bolted and made secure against an attack. In a 
few minutes one hundred and ninety-seven Indians were seen 
crawling down the bank east of the house, while an equal number 
remained in hiding near the mouth of Cold River. 

Having thus cornered Kilburn and his party, consisting of four 
men and two women, the Indians turned their attention to Colonel 
Benjamin Bellows and his men, numbering about thirty, who were 
at work in a flour mill situated on what is now known as Blan- 
chard's brook. The men were returning home, each carrying a sack 
of flour, and on the discovery of the red men all dropped their loads, 
advanced to the rise of land in front, sprang to their feet, gave a 
whoop, and dropped back again into the ferns. This had the 
desired efl;ect, for instantly the Indians arose in a semicircle around 



FIRST (JENERATION. 9 

the path which Bellows was to follow. This gave the men a 
splendid opportunity, and the volley which greeted the Indians so 
disconcerted them that they fell back at once, and Colonel Bellows 
and his men returned to the fort without further mishap. The 
Indians next appeared on the eminence east of Kilburn's house, and 
the Indian Philip, who had become acquainted with the whites 
previously, and knew some English, screening himself behind a 
tree, called out to the settlers to surrender, promising to give good 
quarter. 

After a few minutes' consultation the Indians gave the war-cry 
and began the attack. Kilburn managed to get in the first shot, 
before the smoke obstructed his view, and he had the satisfaction of 
seeing the first Indian fall, wdiom he supposed was Philip. It is 
claimed that about 400 bullets lodged in Kilburn's cabin at the first 
fire. Kilburn and his men kept up an incessant fire, and when the 
supply of bullets became low the women suspended blankets under 
the roof of the house to catch the balls of the enemy, which were 
instantly remelted and turned into bullets, which were returned to 
the Indians with equal velocity. The Indians made several at- 
tempts to break in the doors, but were repulsed each time with 
great loss. 

The battle lasted until nearly sundown, when the Indians began 
to retire, and as evening came on the sound of guns and the cry of 
the war whoop died away into silence. "Quarter!" shouted back 
old Kilburn, with a voice that rang through every Indian's heart 
and every hill and valley; "You black rascals, begone, or we'll 
quarter you !" 

This encounter proved an effectual check to the expedition of the 
Indians, and in a short time they returned to Canada. During the 
whole of the Indian and French war, which continued until 1763, 
the Indians never again made their appearance in this locality, and 
the settlers were left unmolested. A number of arrow heads and 
other small relics are found on the battlefield nearly every year, 
and several skeletons are possessed by persons living around here 
which have been dug up at various times. Only a few years ago a 
skeleton was unearthed near where Kilburn's cabin stood, and the 
skull had a bullet hole through it. The skull is now in a case in 
the Bridge Memorial library in Walpole village and is pointed out 
to the visitor as "probably that of the chief Philip." 



10 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

According to tradition, John Kilburn and his daughter once 
spent the night on the top of AJount Kilburn, John keeping watch 
while his daughter slept. An Indian, who discovered their pres- 
ence, suddenly sprang from the bushes and attacked Kilburn, and 
in the fight which ensued, the Indian was hurled headlong from the 
point now known as Table Rock. 

The foregoing information about John Kilburn was published in 
The Vermont Phoenix, July 29, 1898, by some historical writer 
whose name was withheld. The story has been recorded by many 
pens with varying degrees of accuracy. From the most reliable 
sources, it appears that one hundred and ninety-seven, Indians were 
counted as they crossed a footpath over a swampy place in sight of 
the cabin, and there is no doubt that there were four or five hun- 
dred in all ; for General Shirley had notified the settlers, two or 
three months before, that five hundred Indians were collecting in 
Canada, whose purpose was to wipe out by wholesale slaughter the 
entire advanced settlements on Connecticut river. There were in 
the cabin besides Kilburn, his wife, son and daughter, a man by the 
name of Peak, and his son. Peak was wounded in the shoulder 
and died eight days afterward. T!ie ball was extracted with a 
butcher knife. Had the valiant Kilburn and his brave defenders 
been vanquished by the Indians, the Kathan settlement, only twelve 
miles down the river, would have been attacked by the same merci- 
less savages ; but John Kathan was ready for such an emergency, 
and the Indians would have had a warm reception in case they had 
attempted the destruction of his settlement. 

How Colonel Benjamin Bellows Obtained the Grant of 

Walpole — The Township Was First Known by the 

Name of Great Falls or Bellowstown. 

It was granted to Colonel Bellows and sixty-one others, Feb- 
ruary 16, 1752, or six weeks after the first settlement was made in 
Dummerston. The date of the charter appears in the ninth volume 
of Dr. Bouton's State Papers. Dr. Bouton in a note on page 311, 
Volume VI., says : "Major Benjamin Bellows, afterward colonel, 
was tlie founder of Walpole, N. H., 1749. He was born May 26, 
1712, and died July 10, 1777, aged 65 years." His widow. Madam 
Mary Bellows, died May 21, 1793, aged 69 years. Colonel Bellows 



FIRST (lENERATlON. 11 

was a sharp, shrewd man of business. An anecdote is related of 
him which is characteristic and shows how he outwitted other 
shrewd people. He was anxious to secure a grant for the territory 
now called Walpole, and went to Governor Benning Wentworth, 
wdio, being a devoted adherent of the Episcopal church, generally 
set apart 500 acres from each grant, ostensibly for the benefit of 
that church, but it is more than half suspected he had an eye to 
the main chance for himself. Colonel Bellow'S knew^ his man 
thoroughly, and the governor thought he knew the colonel, and 
when the latter said he wanted a grant of the land north of Great 
Hill — now called Fall Mountain, and sometimes Mount Kilburn — 
the governor thought it must be exceedingly valuable land. "No," 
said he, "I will not give you a grant for that land, but you may 
have all you want on the other side of the hill," which was pre- 
cisely what the doughty colonel wished, but to still further impress 
the governor, he said substantially : "That is not a good gift to a 
friend, for it is not fit for a calf-pasture." The governor was con- 
vinced and set apart the land asked for by Bellows, for the benefit 
of the church and gave to the colonel Walpole, wdiich has oftentimes 
since been called "Colonel Bellows's calf-pasture." The township 
was named in honor of Sir Robert Walpole, the great prime min- 
ister of King George I., who died in 1745. 

Co:\iPLAiNT Against Natiiax Willakd.* 

Captain Fairbanks Moor, his sons, Benjamin and Fairbanks, Jr., 
Robert Cooper, Aaron Cooper, John Kathan, John Kathan, Jr., 
Daniel Shattuck, Daniel Shattuck, Jr., Gideon Shattuck, and 
Joshua Cooper, signed a complaint against Xathan Willard in com- 
mand of Fort Dummer, eight miles below the settlement. 

The complaint is recorded in the Massachusetts archives, Vol. 
75, page 547. It is probable that these signers were associated 
with Captain John Kathan in subduing the forests of Fulham. 
Martha Moore, the wife of Captain Kathan, was a sister of Cap- 
tain Moore, and the two families resided near each other a few 
years. In 1752, Captain Moore's son, Fairbanks, settled in Wal- 
pole, N. H., when there were only six families living in that town, 
and distant ten miles north from Kathan's fort. The wife ot Cap- 
tain Moore was Judith Bellow^s, born 1705, and sister of Colonel 

* See Appendix F. 



12 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Benjamin Bellows of Walpole, who, with John Kilburn, was sub- 
duing the forests of that township. Two grandchildren, Fair- 
banks, Jr., and Benjamin Moore, are named in the history of Wal- 
pole. Fairbanks, Jr., married Esther Kathan, who was admitted 
to the church in Northfield, Mass., November 28, 1756. Benjamin 
married, May 11, 1775, IMargaret Kathan, a daughter of Captain 
Kathan, and settled in Brattleboro in 1757. Captain Moore and 
his son Benjamin were living in Brattleboro March 6, 1758, when 
they were killed by the Indians. Fairbanks, Jr., lived in Putney 
in 1768 on what was called, in 1825, the Timothy Underwood 
place. His son, Fairbanks, Jr., grandson of Captain Moore, was 
a Revolutionary soldier, and marched from Rockingham, Vt., for 
Ticonderoga in the spring of 1775, when that fortress was captured 
by Colonel Ethan Allen, who demanded its surrender "In the 
name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." Rob- 
ert Cooper was a sergeant in Captain Josiah Willard's company 
at Fort Dummer in 1748, and was from Northfield, Mass. Aaron 
and Joshua Cooper were probably relatives of Robert. Daniel 
Shattuck married, April 16, 1719, Martha Sargeant, daughter of 
Digory Sargeant, killed by the Indians at Worcester, Mass., in 1704. 
Her brother. Lieutenant John Sargeant, was killed by the Indians, 
March 29, 1748, near Fort Dummer. Daniel Shattuck, in company 
with twenty-two other persons under the command of Captain 
Josiah Kellogg of Fort Dummer, formed a scouting party sent up 
the Connecticut river valley, November 30, 1724, to watch for 
smokes of camp-fires morning and evening — evidence indicating 
the presence of "ye Indian enemy." Daniel Shattuck, Jr., and Gid- 
eon Shattuck, were probably sons of Daniel. The nine persons 
who signed the memorial with Captain Kathan and his son John, 
were interested, if not associated with him and his family, in 
making the first settlement in town. The improvements made in 
clearing the land and erecting the necessary buildings thereon 
during the first few years of the settlement were sufficient evidence 
that Mr. Kathan expected to obtain a clear title to the land in due 
process of time. 

Kathan's First Deed of Land in Dummerston. 

Although the land was reserved for Governor Wentworth of 
New Hampshire at the time the charter of Dummerston was 



FIRST GENERATION. 13 

granted in 1753, yet in some way it came into the possession of 
Captain Samuel Hunt, gentleman, of Xortbfield, ]\Iass., and was 
deeded by him to John Kathan, for £60, or $200. Samuel Hunt 
was one of the original grantees. Captain Kathan sold his farm to 
his son, John, Jr., June 12, 1786. In the deed the farm is described 
as a certain tract of land in the northeast corner of Dummerston, 
containing three hundred acres, "on which T now live, and is one 
whole right of land deeded to me, the said John Kathan, by Samuel 
Hunt, and surveyed to me by Elisha Root." John Griffin and 
Willard Moore were witnesses to the deed, and were sworn, after 
the death of Captain Kathan, by Judge Benjamin Burt of Wind- 
ham county court, when the deed was recorded, November 26, 
1787. He died November 23, 1787, in the eighty-first year of his 
age. His wife, ^Martha (Moore) Kathan, died "22 of September 
1776, of a monday night." 

Emigrated From England. 

John Kathan came from England in the year 1729 and probably 
resided in Worcester, Mass., previous to his removal to Dum- 
merston. He married a sister of Captain Fairbanks Moor. 
Their children were Alexander, born April 22, 1729, during the 
passage of his parents to America ; Margaret, born October 6, 
1730; John, born January 7, 1732; Mary, born October 18, 1734, 
and married Colonel John Sargeant, the first white child bom in 
Vermont. The event is recorded in the old Bible as follows: 
"tuesday ye 16 day of Dec. 1760, John Sargeant and Mary Kathan 
was married by Major Belles," Bellows, of Walpole, N. H. She 
was the mother of Eli Sargeant. the elder, who died at West River, 
April 24, 1834, aged 73. Martha Kathan was born May 8, 1736, 
and married "July ye 22, of tuesday 1764 to Asa Holgait, By 
Samuel Stevens, Esq." Esther Kathan, born about 1738, married 
Fairbanks Moore, Jr. See Appendix I. Dani-el Kathan was 
born February i, 1741, and married "tuesday May ye 6 day 1764 to 
Ruth Beret (Barrett) By Mr Gay of Hinsdell." Mr. Gay was the 
Rev. Bunker Gay, the first settled pastor of the Congregational 
church in Hinsdale, N. H., was bom in Dedham, Mass., educated at 
Harvard college, and ordained a clergyman in the Congregational 
church. He came to Hinsdale in 1763. 



14 HISIORV OF KATHAN FA-MILY. 

Charles Kathan was born March 26, 1743, but no record of his 
marriage appears in the old Bible. The second marriage of Cap- 
tain John Kathan is recorded as follows: "tuesday february ye 10, 
1767, Capt. John Kathan and the Widow Mary Wright married 
at Springfield By the Rev. Mr. Latrop (Lothrop)." She died and 
he married, 3d, Priscilla Winslow of Putney. They were pub- 
lished September 20, 1779. "May 11, 1755, Margaret Kathan mar- 
ried Benjamin Moors." "Monday March ye 6, 1758, Capt. Moors 
with his son Benjamin were killed and Ben's Wife and two chil- 
dren were taken captives by the Indians." 

"January 26, 1764, the widow Margaret Moors was married to 
Moses Johnson by the Rev. Mr. Gay of Hinsdell." Moses Johnson* 
settled in Putney about the time of his marriage and built the first 
two-story house on land where Putney street now is, half a mile 
distant from the home of Captain Kathan. He was born, accord- 
ing to a memorandum in his own handwriting, February 23, 1741, 
probably at Stafford, Conn. 

First Birth Recorded in Dummerston. 

The earliest recorded birth in Dummerston reads as follows : 
"Mar. ye 5, 1761, thursday Mary Kathan or Mary Sargent wife of 
John Sargent ; her first child a son was born in fullom and province 
of New Hampshire." This son was named Eli Sargeant, who died 
April 24, 1834, aged 73 years. His father was born at Fort Dum- 
mer in 1732, was son of Lieut. John Sargeant, and was a soldier 
in Capt. Williams's company in the Crown Point expedition in 
1755- He lived in Dummerston in 1761 and in 1762 began a 
settlement in Brattleboro, on the road to Dummerston, where his 
grandson, James FI. Sargeant, lived and great-grandson now lives, 
next south of the road leading to the suspension bridge. 

Fairbanks JMoor and Son Killed by the Indians. 

Benjamin Moor, the husband of Margaret Kathan, made the 
second settlement in Brattleboro away from Fort Dummer in 1757, 
near where the asylum farm-house now stands. His mother was 



■ See Appendix L. 



FIRST GENERATION. 15 

Judith, a sister of Col. Benjamin Bellows of Walpole, N. H. He 
was in Captain Elijah Williams's company in the Crown Point 
expedition in 1755, and a soldier at Fort Dummer in 1756. They 
had two children. The younger was born December 7, 1757. 
Captain Fairbanks JNIoor, the husband's father, lived with them 
and slept below, and they and their children above in their lo^ 
house. In the night of March 6, 1758, Indians came and made a 
noise and Captain Moor went to the door. They attacked him, 
and his son went to help him, and both were killed with hatchets. 
Mrs. Moor put on some of her clothes and, in her confusion, drew 
on three pairs of Captain ]\Ioor's long stockings, took her children 
and fled by the back door up a sled road where her husband had 
drawn wood the day before. The Indians brought them back, 
found some lard, which they melted in a kettle, some beans, which 
they put into the lard, and, when that was cold, they put it into a 
bag and started with her and her children for Canada. They went 
up West river, which flowed past into the Connecticut, and not 
far from the settlement. They crossed over the Green Mountains 
to Otter creek, down the creek to Lake Champlain, and down the 
lake to Canada. At first they kept the children from Mrs. Moor, 
but soon let her have the younger child, and assisted in carrying it. 
They were ten days in going, and lived principally on the beans and 
lard. 

Mrs. Moor and her children were redeemed by Colonel Peter 
Schuyler in the fall of 1760 for 400 livres ($74) and returned 
to her parents in Fulham, who had not heard from her till then. 
The younger child had not been named when they were taken, and 
was afterwards called IMary Captive. Colonel Josiah Willard of 
Winchester, N. H., who bought three shares of land in Fulham, in 
1754, gave Mrs. Moor a deed of fifty acres of land which he owned 
in Brattleboro, dated February 16, 1763. This lot lies southwest 
of the cemetery on the hill north of Centreville, and a short dis- 
tance westerly from the settlement where she was captured by the 
Indians in 1758. She was married to Moses Johnson of Putney, 
January 26, 1764. They sold the land, November 23, 1767, to 
Abner Scovel for £10 3d in money, a note of £10, and another note 
of i I 6s 8d, "to be left at Major John Arms'," who purchased, 
after the death of Captain Moor and his son, the farm on which 
they settled in 1757. After his death, which was by the kick of a 



16 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

horse, his son, Josiah Arms, kept the inn on the place, which was 
a favorite stopping place for Colonel Ethan i\llen and the Brad- 
leys — Stephen Row Bradley and family of Westminster, Vt. The 
farm, at the time of the massacre, comprised the meadows now 
owned by the Brattleboro Retreat. The homestead of Captain 
Moor and his son, Benjamin, at the time when they fell victims to 
the Indians, w^as occupied by Newman Allen, Esq., fifty years ago. 

Captain Kathan's Real Estate. 

The settlement which Captain Kathan made in Dummerston 
comprised lots numbered 29 and 30 in the northeast corner of 
the town, containing three hundred acres. So far as the land 
records of Dummerston are in evidence, it appeared to be all 
the real estate of which he was the owner, from the fact that the 
sale of it to his son John, Jr., June 12, 1786, is the only record of 
the kind entered in his name on the land records of Dummerston. 
A recent examination of the Putney land records discloses the fact 
that he owned a large amount of real estate in that town. January 
28, 1770, he sold eighty-five acres to jMichael Law of Putney. 
Charles Kathan bought of his father, September 12, 1772, three 
hundred acres located where Putney village is built, comprising six 
lots of fifty acres each, "and all the Edifices thereon." March 17, 
1779, Charles Kathan sold the same to Darby Ryan for £300. 
Charles Kathan was then living in Roxbury, Mass., and was a 
"Victtualler" by occupation. 

October 15, 1773, Captain Kathan sold Joseph Dyer two whole 
shares in Putney, eight hundred acres, for £49 and 15 shillings, on 
which no improvements had been made. Mr. Kathan bought it 
of Amasa Parker and Samuel Allen, original grantees of Putney. 
January 3, 1777, he sold to Jonathan Uran fifty acres, and on the 
i6th of April, 1777, sold Moses Johnson, his son-in-law, sixty-four 
acres. June 30, 1781, he sold Colonel William Sargeant of Dum- 
merston, twenty acres. His last sale of real estate was made to 
John Griffin, April 21, 1787, and was one whole share of four hun- 
dred acres. In all the deeds granted by him, he writes, "I. John 
Kathan of Fullum," except one or two deeds in which Dummerston 
is written. 



first generation. 17 

Site of tiik Kathax House and Fort.* 

]\Iany persons, who have visited in recent years the place where 
John Kathan settled, were curious to learn the exact spot on which 
he built his house and the fort surrounding- it. In the old Kathan 
Bible, printed in 1731, it is stated definitely that John Kathan 
"Cam to settle at Benias rock on the Conicut in the Government 
of New Hampshir eight miles from Fort Dummer." Bemis rock 
is very near the southern boundary line of Putney and is a prom- 
inent, rougii-looking ledge extending some fifty feet or more out 
into the river from the right bank, and running to a point like the 
prow of a huge war vessel. It is a notable and dangerous rock just 
below the old Kathan ferry running between Putney and Westmore- 
land. 

June 12, 1786, seventeen months before the death of Captain 
Kathan, he sold the farm "on which I now live" to his son John, 
Jr., who, with his family had lived near or on the homestead farm 
since the time of its settlement in 1752. November 12, 1800, 
nineteen months before his death, John, Jr., sold the parental farm 
to his sons, David and Prentice. They sold one hundred and fifty 
acres of the estate to their mother, Lois Kathan, and other heirs 
for $3,000, October i, 1802, and, on the same day, made a contract 
with her to take care of her during the remainder of her life. 
David Kathan died in 1808, and Prentice Kathan was left to care 
for his mother on the old homestead. In 1820. he sold to his 
brother, Gardner, ten acres west of the stage road leading past 
his home to Dummerston, ''being a part of what is called the 
Kathan survey near what is called Kathan's ferry," now Ware's 
ferry. In 1808, David and Prentice Kathan were still the owners 
of one hundred and fifty-one acres of the original Kathan survey. 
The other half of the ancestral homestead was then owned by the 
following persons : Gardner Kathan, twenty-seven acres ; Timothy 
Underwood, seven acres, where Fairbanks ^Nloor settled ; John 
Wilder, fifteen acres; and Ashbel Johnson, one hundred acres; a 
total of three hundred acres. Prentice Kathan continued to live 
on the old homestead v.'here he was bom until 1829 or 1830. His 
last real estate transaction was on February 6. 1829. to Phineas 
Underwood, who, in the course of a vear from that time, foreclosed 



* See Appendix B and illustration. 



18 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

a mortgage on the old homestead, and Mr. Kathan removed to 
Westmoreland. 

Captain John Kathan's Widow. 

Captain John Kathan, then aged ^2, and Priscilla Wilson of 
Putney were published in that town, September 20, 1779, and were 
married soon after that date. He died November 23, 1787, and 
she remained a widow nearly three years. Joseph Higgins of 
Dummerston and the Widow Priscilla Kathan were married in 
Westmoreland, N. H., August 26, 1790, by Samuel Works, justice 
of the peace. Joseph Higgins resided in 1793 in school district No. 
5, one mile west of Alexander Kathan's. He was probably a son 
of Uriah Higgins, who came to Dummerston from Wendell, Mass., 
in 1790, and was the father of Caleb, who married Lucy Hildreth, 
May 5, 1796, Alpheus, who married Phebe Hildreth, September 21, 
in 1797, and Polly, who married David Dutton, in 1782. Alpheus 
had a son, Alpheus, whose widow married Russel Knight of Dum- 
merston. Caleb and Joshua, twins, born February 16, 1797, were 
sons of Caleb and grandsons of Uriah Higgins. 

Captain John Kathan and Captain Fairbanks Moor Soldiers 

IN Crown Point Expedition, 1755, in the French 

AND Indian War. 

Among the names of men belonging to Northfield and vicinity 
in the Crown Point expedition in the year 1755 are those of John 
Kathan and Fairbanks Moor, his brother-in-law. They served in 
Captain Elijah Williams's company of Deerfield, Mass., from June 
II to November 21.* War was not formally declared between 
England and France until the beginning of 1756, although hostil- 
ities had been continued in the provinces during the year 1755, and 
the inhabitants living in the settlements along the Connecticut 
river suffered much from the incursions of the Indians. On the 
22d of July, 1775, a party of Indians attacked four soldiers of Hins- 
dale's fort, nine miles below the Kathan settlement, and killed John 
Hardiclay and scalped him on the spot. His body was terribly 
mangled, both breasts being cut oft' and the heart laid open. One 



♦History of Northfield. 



FIRST GENERATION. 11) 

soldier was captured and the two others escaped to the fort. A 
week previous to this occurrence the Indians burned an outhouse 
(sawmill) with its contents on the Kathan settlement, six miles 
above West river. Twelve miles above the Kathan settlement, in 
Walpole, N. H., early in August, 1755, Daniel Twitchel and John 
Flynt were shot by the Indians. One of them was scalped and 
the other cut open, his heart taken out and laid in pieces upon 
his breast. This was the first Christian blood spilt in Walpole. 
Mr. Twitchel was selectman, and he, with Mr. Fl\nt, went out 
back to the hills, on what is now Drewsville road, to cut some 
timber for oars. Their bodies were buried on the spot where 
they were killed, which is accurately pointed out to this day. 
Shortly before this sad event, an Indian, by the name of Philip, 
had visited Kilburn's house in a friendly way, pretending to be in 
want of provisions. Soon after it was ascertained that this same 
Indian had visited all the settlements on the river, which would 
include Kathan's, doubtless to procure information of the state of 
their defences. 

No wonder that Kathan and his associates w'ere greatly alarmed, 
and the sparse population in Connecticut valley, unwilling to aban- 
don their crops, had strengthened their feeble garrisons and bravely 
determined to stand by their rude, but promising homes. 

On June 27, 1755, a little more than two weeks after Kathan 
and ]\Ioor enlisted, the most disastrous afiair that occurred during 
the season on the Connecticut river, took place at Bridgman's fort, 
on Vernon meadow, a short distance below Fort Dummer, and 
opposite Hinsdale's fort on the east side of the river. Being 
' strongly picketed, it was considered as secure as any garrison in 
the vicinity. Caleb How was shot by the Indians and mortally 
wounded. On seeing him fall, the Indians rushed up, pierced him 
with their spears, scalped him and left him for dead. His two 
sons, who were with him at work in a cornfield, were taken pris- 
oners. Benjamin Gaffield was drowned in attempting to escape 
across the river, but Hilkiah Grout fortunately escaped. The 
Indians captured the fort, and, after plundering it, fired the place. 
Fourteen persons in all were made prisoners. On the morning 
after the attack on Bridgman's fort a party of men found Caleb 
How still alive, and conveyed him to Hinsdale's fort on the oppo- 
site side of the river, where he soon died, aged 31 years. He was 



20 HISTORY OF RA'JHAN FAMILY. 

buried about half a mile from the fort, in the middle of a large 
field, and a stone erected to his memory is still standing. His 
wife, with seven children, was among the captives. The success 
of the Indians in capturing Bridgman's fort doubtless encouraged 
them to unite their forces in Canada for the butchery and extinc- 
tion of the whole white population on the river. About noon on 
August 27, 1755, the Indian expedition reached Walpole, N. H., 
and surrounded the house of John Kilburn, whose gallant defence 
of his home is reported on preceding pages. The savages, unable 
to conquer so small a fortress, became discouraged, forsook the 
ground, and, as was supposed, returned to Canada, abandoning 
the expedition on which they had set out. It is not unreasonable 
to suppose that their fatal experience in that town, through the 
matchless defence of those Walpole heroes and heroines, was in- 
strumental in saving hundreds of the dwellers on the frontiers 
from the horrors of an Indian massacre. Seldom did it fall to the 
lot of pioneer settlers to win a more brilliant crown than John Kil- 
burn earned in his glorious exploit. 

The expedition against Crown Point, which was planned during 
the spring and summer of 1755, and in which John Kathan and 
Fairbanks Moor served, was consummated in the fall of the same 
year. The command was given to General William Johnson. 
Though attended with success, it was not rewarded with the con- 
quest of the desired station ; and the victory of September 8, which 
defeated the Baron Dieskau and his French and Indian forces, 
though it served to cheer the spirits of the English in America, was 
purchased by the loss of some of the best men in the colonies. Of 
this number was Colonel Ephraim Williams, who was shot through 
the head as he was leading on his regiment in the conflict. His 
death was universally regretted by his countrymen. His exertions, 
during a service of many years on the frontier, had won him the 
esteem and admiration which is due to virtue and valor; and the 
endowment which he made by his will for establishing the college 
which bears his name, has kept his memory green in the hearts of 
succeeding generations, and added to his renown as a warrior 
the praises of scholars and philanthropists. Williams College is 
located in Williamstown, Mass., in Berkshire Countv, and was 
founded in 1793. 




m 



ii 




Chapter II. 

ALEXANDER KATHAN, ESQ. 

1729— 1825. 

Fainily Record — Second Peniianeiit Settlement in Tozcn — De- 
scriptive Features of the Plain — Killed a Bear — Organization of 
Tozvnship — Prominent in Toivn Affairs — Present at the "West- 
minster Massacre" — Carried With him His Famous Long Gun — 
The story of the "Westminster Massacre" as Told by Judge 
H. H. Wheeler — Burial Place of William French and Epitaph on 
His Gravestone — French's Native Place — Wounds that Caused 
His DeatJi — Daniel HougJiton Mortally Wounded — His Parent- 
age and Burial Place — Statement of Facts Made by the Judges of 
the Court — Honorable IVilliam C. Bradley's Legislative Plea for 
a State Monument in Memory of William Frencli — Alexander 
Kathan Vindicated from the Charge of Being a Tory — His 
Neighbors in 1793 — First School House in Kathan District 
— Photographic Viezi' of His Farm — Transfers of Kathan Estate 
— His Last Will and Testament. 

Alexander Kathan and Margaret Baird were married December 
4, 1755, by Rev. Mr. Roberts of Leicester, Mass. She was bom 
August 21, 1732. Their children were Mar}% bom October 8, 
1756, married Elihu Sargeant, died December 18, 1850; John, 
born October 12, 1758, died April 10, 1833, aged 74; Daniel, bom 
October 5, 1760, married Olive Lamb, died September 10, 1804; his 
wife, Olive, died January 23, 1803; Thomas, born in Dummerston, 
April 30, 1764, married, first, Anna Bumham, May 22, 1803, sec- 
ond, Abigail Haven, September 17, 1829, died July 15, 1838, aged 
74; Elizabeth, born December 25, 1767, died January 13, 1828. 
The marriage of Thomas Kathan, as given in the foregoing record, 
is a correction of an error which appears on page eighteen in the 
History of Dummerston, published in 1884. Thomas, the son of 
Daniel (2d), born November 25, 1788, did not marry, as there 
stated. Alexander Kathan's family Bible, which is in the pos- 
session of some descendant living: in Maine, was loaned to the 



22 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

writer when the history of Dumnierston was compiled. In it ap- 
pears the following record: "I, Alexander Kathan, arrived in Ful- 
ham May i, 1761, with my family from Worcester. Nov. 16, 
1762, moved into my log-house. Nov. 6, 1783, moved into my new 
house west side the road." His wife's father, Mr. Baird, died May 
3, 1782. Mrs. Baird, her mother, died April 23, 1790. Mercy 
Baird died March 22, 1802. 

"Sister Johnson was taken by the Indians, carried to Canada, 
March 6, 1758, and was redeemed by General Schuyler in the fall. 
She died October 18, 1779, up at the lake." It is recorded in this 
old Bible that Alexander Kathan and wife joined the Congrega- 
tional church in Dummerston, March 11, 1787, during the ministry 
of Rev. Aaron Crosby. Many texts were written on the margin of 
the Bible from which he had heard sermons preached by Mr. Crosby. 
Mr. Kathan was present at the Court House fight in Westminster 
and made a note of the event as follows : "Court stopped at West- 
minster March 13, 1775." Religious sentiments and counsel for 
his family are written on many pages of his family Bible. 

The Second Settlement in Dummerston. 

On a tombstone erected in memory of Alexander Kathan, who 
died February 14, 1825, aged 95 years, is the statement that he 
was the second settler in this town, and the information is not 
elsewhere recorded. His father, the first settler, located about two 
miles northeast from the home of Alexander, near Sackett's brook, 
which flows into the Connecticut a short distance from the first 
settlement. This brook is a never-failing stream, flowing from the 
west part of Westminster directly south through Putney and east 
of the central part of the town. It receives in its passage many 
tributary streams and empties into the Connecticut one mile south 
of Putney village. The brook presents a distinguishing feature 
of the town, runs through a large meadow at the end of which is 
located the village, and enriches the soil by its frequent overflow- 
ings, causing the meadow to yield from year to year abundant 
crops of grass and grain. In the valley through which Sackett's 
brook flows was one of the noblest groves of pines anywhere to be 
found. They lifted their heads to a vast height, the boughs clos- 
ing over the traveler, rendering it dark, even at midday. The 



SECOND GENERATION. 23 

Great Meadows, five miles further up the Connecticut, abounded 
in yehow pine, while the higher flats, or plains, were covered with a 
majestic growth of white pines. 

Alexander Kathan made his choice of a farm near a large 
stream called "Canoe Brook" in early times, from the circumstance 
that he found in it an Indian canoe, but at the present time it is 
called ''Murder Hollow Brook," because it was once the scene of 
a murder committed near where it empties into the Connecticut. 
The victim was a peddler of silk dress goods. His body was sup- 
posed to have been thrown into the river, as a trail from the place 
of violence was found leading across the sandy soil to the edge 
of the water. The suspected murderers were Gideon Burnham 
and a near neighbor of his, who did not remain long in town after 
the mysterious event. 

The elevated plain south of Canoe brook was thickly covered 
with lofty white pines at the time Alexander Kathan made a clear- 
ing for his new home. The lofty white pine is the glory of the 
American forest, yet the woodman spares it not. Here and there 
a tall pine or stately elm was left standing alone long after the nine- 
teenth century began, reminding the observer of the grandeur of 
the primeval forest. The first house in which Mr. Kathan lived 
was built of round logs, and the second one of hewn logs. They 
were located east of the road leading from Fort Dummer to the set- 
tlement made by Captain Kathan. The third house was a frame 
building located opposite the log cabin and on the west side of 
the road. The house was remodeled after many years. The old 
roof was taken off, another story added, and the building became 
a good-looking, two-story, white house, and remained such until 
it came into the possession of a rich owner, Dr. C. H. Sholes, who 
converted it into a fine country residence. The first com planted 
on the new settlement was not a successful crop. The tall, over- 
shadowing pines prevented its coming to maturity, and the owner 
obtained only a harvest of fodder for his first year's labor. In pro- 
cess of time good corn was raised, but it was necessary, during the 
first few years after Mr. Kathan settled in this township, to get his 
corn ground at a gristmill in Deerfield, Mass., some thirty miles 
south from the settlement. About the year 1770, a gristmill was 
built on Salmon brook in a little hamlet now called by the eupho- 
nious name of Slab Hollow. The first record of the mill appears 



24 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

in the town record book for the year 1772: "Nov. 23, 1772, the 
settlers voted that the road be accepted from the meeting-house 
[lot] by the corner of Rosea Miller's lot, so on the south side of 
said Miner's lot to Salmon brook, over the brook, so down on the 
north side of said brook, to the Com Mill thence to John Ivilbury^s 
thence to the Great road on the south side of Daniel Kathan s 
bam " The mill was about one mile distant from the Alexander 
Kathan place. The first apple trees in town were brought from 
Worcester, three in number, by Mr. Kathan and set out on his 
farm The variety of apple was then called "cotton wool." The 
last one of the old trees stood till the year 1869 on land just north 
of the barn on "the old Kathan place." Bears were numerous m 
those earlv times, and, on one occasion, when Mr. Kathan was re- 
turnino- from Deerfield or Worcester, guided on his way by marked 
trees, a dark object appeared in his path not far in front of him 
It was evening and near his home. Not being able, on account of 
the darkness, to recognize what was the obstruction in his pathway, 
and not daring to risk too much by a nearer approach, he fired his 
gun and the dark object glided away into the forest. In the morn- 
ing he returned, in company with others, to the scene of his ad- 
venture, and, finding traces of blood, followed the trail to a swamp, 
now south of the East Dummerston cemetery, where they dis- 
covered a dead bear. Wolves were also plenty, and frequently the 
family were kept awake during the night time by the howhng of 
wolves near the sheep-pens, where they were often seen standmg 
on their hind feet with their paws resting against the pen, and bark- 
ing furiously. 

Alexander Kathan was greatly interested in public affairs. His 
name appears first on a notification for a meeting, dated January 21, 
1771 and signed by fourteen of the settlers. It was a call for the 
freeholders of the town of Dummerston to meet at the house of 
Isaac Miller on the first Monday in March, 1771, fourth day of the 
month and act on the articles named in the warrant. Mr. Kathan 
was chosen moderator and Enoch Cook was chosen settlers' clerk. 
Isaac Miller lived one mile south from Mr. Kathan's home and 
settled in town in 1770, with a family of twelve children. He had 
assisted Ebenezer Waters to survey the township into one hundred- 
acre lots in 1767, amounting in all to twenty-one thousand seven 
hundred acres. At this meeting, Mr. Kathan was chosen one of 



SECOND GENERATION. 25 

the committee to lay out roads, also a surveyor of hig-hways. The 
following year, on Alay 19, 1772, when the town was first organ- 
ized, he w'as chosen one of the assessors and also overseer of the 
poor. He was town representative in 1782 and 1783, and select- 
man during the years 1786, 1787 and 1788. Enoch Cook was con- 
tinued in office as town clerk until May 18, 1773, when Solomon 
Harvey was chosen his successor. Mr. Harvey was a "Practi- 
tioner of Physic," and, on account of his patriotism and amhition 
to be identified as an exponent of public opinion and a leader in the 
affairs of the tow^n, he was called the "village Plampden" of Dum- 
merston, in honor of John Hampden, a celebrated English patriot 
and parliamentary leader, born in London in 1594. Had he, "with 
dauntless breast," undertaken to withstand some "little tyrant" in 
the field of politics in Dummerston, his leadership would have been 
successful all through "the times that tried men's souls" in the 
war for independence ; but he undertook to impeach the character 
of Alexander Kathan, a true patriot and liberty-loving citizen of 
Dummerston. How well he succeeded in retiring him to obscurity 
and the unpopular distinction of "Tory," is told in an article written 
by the author at considerable expense of time, and published in 
The Vermont Phoenix in October, 1897. It was prepared by the 
author to correct a traditional error, or story without foundation in 
fact, published in the History of Dummerston in 1884. A subse- 
quent study of the town records for Revolutionary times revealed 
the fact that Mr. Kathan was not one of "the enemies of our land, 
our temporal happiness and public afifairs," as Dr. Harvey states 
in his farewell address to the worthy inhabitants of this town. The 
occasion of Dr. Harvey's charge of Ton-ism was the presence of 
Alexander Kathan w'ith his gun at the "Westminster massacre," 
March 13. 1775, the story of which is well told by Honorable Hoyt 
H. Wheeler, judge of the United States District Court for the dis- 
trict of Vermont, wdio has had abundant opportunities to verify 
the statements made in his very interesting account of the affair 
in which William French fell "the first martyr of the Revolution." 
The territory now forming the counties of Windham and \\'ind- 
sor then formed the county of Cumberland in the province of New 
York, under the reign of King George HI. It had a Court of 
Common Pleas which was to sit in the name of the king on Tues- 
day, March 14, in the court house at Westminster. Thomas 



20 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Chandler of Chester was the chief judge, and Noah Sabin of Put- 
ney, who hved at the upper end of the street, and Samuel Wells of 
Brattleboro, who lived in the house now know as Lmden Lodge, 
of the Brattleboro Retreat, were assistant judges. WiUiam Pater- 
son who lived in Hinsdale, now Vernon, was high sheritt. 
Samuel Gale, whose wife was a daughter of Judge Wells was 
clerk of the court and lived in Westminster. Samuel Knight of 
Brattleboro, who lived just north of the Brooks library m the 
only house in what is now the east village of Brattleboro north 
of Whetstone brook, Crean Brush of Westminster and John 
Grout of Chester, were the practicing lawyers. Opposition had 
arisen among the people to the sessions of this court, whose judg- 
ments were burdensome and were deemed a part of the oppressions 
of Great Britain, under which the colonies were suffermg and pre- 
paring resistance. 

On February 3 a town meeting of Fulhani, now Dummerston, 
"Voted that the Court of Common Pleas be put by for a time," and 
on the Fridav before court was to sit, a company of about forty 
men from Rockingham went to the chief judge and requested that 
it should not be held. The sheriff, from these and other things, 
feared resistance, and on Sunday arranged for a posse of about 
thirty-five men from Brattleboro, ten from Newfane, and some 
from Putney, to be present, some with guns. The people opposed 
to the court, to the number of about one hundred, mostly from 
Fulham, Putney West Hill, Westminster West and Rockingham, 
took possession of the court house at about 4 o'clock Monday after- 
noon. At about sunset the sheriff, at the head of his posse of about 
sixty, caused the king's proclamation against riots to be read at the 
door,' and demanded admission, which was refused. He said if not 
admitted he would blow a lane through those inside who would all 
be in hell before morning. Charles Davenport, a carpenter, who 
lived "on the green" half a mile south of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan 
in Fulham, answered that if those outside undertook to come in they 
would all be in hell in fifteen minutes. The sheriff and his posse soon 
withdrew. Mrs. Brush, who had been a widow Montusan, told 
them that if the judges were not women in men's clothes they 
wovild give the order to drive the rebels out of the court house at 
once, and bring the leaders to trial for treason; that they had 
atlfthority and arms, and had only to contend with traitors who 



SECOND GENERATION. 27 

would run at the sound of their own voices. Her daughter, 
Frances iNIontusan, told her that she thought they had a just 
cause ; and to remqmber that there were Green Mountain boys on 
the other side of the mountains ; and that Ethan Allen would come 
to assist them. Her mother answered that she should not be 
more surprised to see her sneaking after Ethan Allen than she was 
at that; and told the others that the girl was crazy, and Sheriff 
Paterson that the king expected him to do his duty. At about ii 
o'clock at night, the sheriff, at the head of his posse, being refused, 
again demanded admission, which was again refused, and those 
inside w-ere fired upon. William French of Brattleboro was killed. 
Daniel Houghton of Fulham was so wounded that he died nine 
days after ; others were wounded, and all were driven out, or taken 
prisoners. An affidavit made at the time states of "the fire from 
the House, that one of their Balls entered the Cuff of the Coat of 
Benjamin Butterfield, Esquire, one of His Majesty's Justices of 
the Peace for the said County of Cumberland, which went out of 
the elbow without hurting him and then went through his Coat 
Sleeve and just grazed the Skin, that a pistol was discharged by 
one of the Rioters at Benjamin Butterfield, the Son of the above 
named Jtistice Butterfield, so near that the powder burnt a large 
hole in the breast of his Coat, and one William Williams received 
a large w^ound in the head by one of the Balls discharged by the 
Rioters." 

Those who were driven out rallied their neighbors and friends 
in great haste ; Solomon Harvey, "practitioner of physic," rode to 
Fulham without his hat. Ethan Allen did not come, but Capt. 
Robert Cochran did, from Bennington, with twenty-five Green 
Mountain boys, through Marlboro, across meeting-house hill in 
Brattleboro. Others came from both sides of the river, to the 
number of about four hundred in all, who surrounded the village 
and took the judges, sheriff, clerk and lawyers, and others most 
prominent in the posse, prisoners. An inquest was held by Tim- 
othy Olcott of Rockingham, coroner, the original record of which 
is framed and hangs in the state library at Montpelier, which 
charged the sheriff and several of his posse with murder, and they 
were taken by the county authorities to the jail in Northampton, 
Mass., for safe keeping from the exasperated people. The pris- 
oners were afterward taken by the New York authorities from 



28 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Northampton to New York and released. Noah Sabin was a 
member of the Congregational church in Putney. He was refused 
communion after this affair, but was admitted again April 29, 1781, 
and became a most stable and useful member. Samuel Knight 
became afterwards chief justice of the supreme court of Vermont. 
Frances Montusan became a widow Buchanan and was afterwards 
married, on February 16, 1784, to Ethan Allen, at Westminster, 
and lived to a great age in BurHngton. This account of the part 
taken by her mother and herself was received from her many years 
after the occurrence. Ethan Allen's work entitled "Reason, the 
only oracle of man," was published in 1784. He presented to her a 
copy on the fly leaf of which he had written : "Dear Fanny, Wife 
the Beautiful and Young; the partner of my Joys, my dearest 
self, pride of my life, your sexes pride and pattern of politeness, 
yet sincear. To thee a compliment I make of treasures rich, the 
oracles of reason." 

In addition to the foregoing information given in Judge Wheel- 
er's communication to The Vermont Phoenix, in March, 1895, i^ 
may be of interest to state that the first martyr of the Revolution 
was buried in the cemetery at Westminster, only a short distance 
from the old court house in which he was killed. At the right of 
the path but a short distance from the gate of the cemetery stood, 
for nearly a century, an unpretending slate-stone not half as 
attractive by its appearance as many of its fellows. The writer 
first saw it in 1856, when he was a student in Professor L. F. 
Ward's seminary at Westminster. 

The slate-stone was split at that time, but was held together 
by a bolt of lead that looked like a bullet imbedded in the stone, 
and the students in our company said it was the bullet which was 
shot through the head of William French. Several years later, 
the authorities at Westminster removed the old gravestone and 
replaced it with a new slate-stone, the exact copy in form and 
inscription of the original stone, which was kept as a relic in the 
hearse-house near the old church built in 1769. That ancient 
edifice was destroyed by lightning in June, 1888, and with its 
burning perished the hearse-house and the original slate-stone on 
which was the unique and patriotic record : 

In Memory of William French Son to Mr Nathaniel French Who Was 
Shot at Westminster March ye 13th 1775 by the hands of Cruel Ministerial 



bJtCOND GENERATION. 29 

tools of Georg ye 3d in the Corthouse at a 11 a Clock at Night in the 22d 
year of his Age — 

Here William French his Body lies 
For Murder his blood for Vengance cries 
King Georg the third his Tory crew 
tha with a bawl his head Shot threw 
For Liberty and His Countrys Good 
he Lost his Life his Dearest blood. 

William French, son of Nathaniel French, resided in Brattleboro 
near the southern line of Dummerston, three miles south from the 
residence of Alexander Kathan. He had a brother, Nathaniel 
French, Jr., who settled near West river in Dummerston in 1768, 
and was a resident here at the time his brother was killed in 
Westminster. The people of Brattleboro, who lived in the immedi- 
ate neighborhood of William French's home, were mainly favorers 
of the court party, but young French's principles were those which 
he had received from his father. Finding sympathy with the 
liberty-loving people of Dummerston, he generally acted with them 
on questions relating to the public weal. Nathaniel French had 
a family of eleven children, of whom William was the fifth and 
was bom ]\Iarch 21, 1753, and lacked only eight days of being 
twenty-two years old at the time he was killed. In person, he was 
of medittm size and stature, and in the words of one who knew 
him, was esteemed "as a clever, steady, honest, working farmer." 
Being, tmdoubtedly, tnore ardent than others iti expressing and 
enforcing his sentiments, he was among the first to attract attention, 
and in the isstte was most mercilessly btitchered. He was shot 
with five btillets in as manv different places. One of the balls 
lodged in the calf of the leg, and another in the thigh. A third, 
striking him in the mouth, broke out several teeth. He received 
the fourth in his forehead, and that which cattsed his death 
entered the brain jtist behind the ear. In this horrible condition, 
still alive, he was dragged to a crowded jail-room and thrust in 
among the well and wounded. Between the hours of three and 
four on the next morning, Dr. William Hill, of Westminster, was 
allowed to visit him ; but assistance had come too late. On the day 
after the aftVay the name of French was on every lip. and hundreds 
visited his corpse, anxious to 

" — dip their napkins in his sacred blood ; 
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory." 



30 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

A coroner's jury was assembled on the 15th of jMarch to inquire 
into the cause of French's death and the original report of the 
investigation is still preserved. On the same day of the inquest 
he was buried with military honors, his funeral being attended 
by all the militia of the surrounding country, who paid their final 
adieu to the ennobled dead in the salute which they fired above 
his grave. Daniel Houghton, who was mortally wounded during 
the affray, was a resident of Dummerston. The idea was gen- 
eral, for a time, that he would recover from his injuries, and it 
is for this reason that his name is not oftener found in connection 
with that of French. He was wounded in the body and survived 
only nine days. He was buried in the old graveyard at West- 
minster, not far from the grave of French. For many years 
there was a stone, shapeless and unhewn, which marked the spot 
where he lay, but even this slight memorial has at length disap- 
peared from its place, and no one can now mark with accuracy the 
locality of his grave. He died at Westminster in a house situated 
a little northwest of the court house, and but a short distance 
from it. It was then occupied by Eleazer Harlow. It was sup- 
posed at the time when the Histoi-y of Dummerston was written 
that Daniel Houghton was a son of Cyrus and Experience (Pike) 
Houghton, then residents of this town, but such was not the case. 
The children of Cyrus Houghton were Achsah, Eunice, Caleb and 
William by first marriage, and by second marriage to Mary Taylor, 
Jonah. Caleb Houghton w^as the father of W. A. Houghton of 
Berlin, Mass., who compiled a genealogy of the Houghton families 
in New England and furnished to the writer the information that 
Daniel Houghton, son of Daniel and Experience Houghton, of 
Bolton, Mass., was born 1755, and consequently would be twenty 
years old at the time of his death in Westminster. Many of the 
Floughtons of Berlin settled in this region. 

In claiming for William French the title of the first martyr to 
the cause of American liberty and of the Revolution, it may chance 
that but few will be found willing to allow him such an honor. 
Lexington and Concord point to their battle grounds, and Charles- 
town boasts of her Bunker Hill, on whose top towers the symbol 
of our national strength, the personification of the genius of 
America. But amid all these noble memories, it should never be 



SECOND GENERATION. 31 

forgotten, that on the plains of Westminster the cause of freedom 
received its first victim, and that in his grave were buried all hopes 
of reconcilation with the mother countr3\ The "State of the 
Facts" made by the judges of the court is in these words: "New 
York County of Cumberland court of common pleas, And court of 
General Sessions of the Peace holden at the court House in 
Westminster this Fourteenth Day of March A. D. 1775. W^iereas 
a very melancholly and unhappy affair Happened at this Place in 
the evening of yesterday The thirteenth Instant and Whereas it 
may be that the Same may Be represented very Different From 
what The same really was We his majesty's Judges and Justices 
of the said Courts being chiefly there Present have Thought it our 
Duty thus to relate a true state of the Facts Exactly as they hap- 
pened. 

"Many threats having for several Terms past been Thrown out 
by evil minded persons that they would With Violence break up and 
Destroy the courts of our Sovereign Lord the king in this country 
and threats of A more Daring and absolute nature than formerly 
having been thrown out by certain Evil-Minded persons Against the 
setting of this present Court the Sheriff' tho't it Essentially nec- 
essary to raise a Posse For the Court's Protection and having 
Raised about sixty Men armed some With Guns and some with 
staves he arrived At their head before the Court House about five 
o'clock In the afternoon of yesterday When to the Great Surprise 
of the said Sheriff' and Posse they found the court house Taken 
into Possession and the several Doors thereof Guarded By a large 
number of Rioters (supposed to be about a hundred in the whole) 
armed With clubs and some Few firearms. The Sheriff' then 
endeavored to Go in at the Door of the court-house, but was pre- 
vented by Threats And menaces ; whereupon he read the King's 
Proclamation, with a very loud voice commanding In his Majesty's 
name all persons unlawfully assembled Immediately to Depart, and 
thereupon Demanded Entrance again. But was again refused and 
Prevented by threats and menaces as Before. The Sheriff then 
told the Rioters that he would Leave them a short time to con- 
sider of their behavior And to Disperse, and if they would not after- 
wards allow Him Entrance into the said court house That he would 
Absolutely Enter it by force. But the Rioters made scoff at this 
Measure replying the hardest must fend off. The Rioters a little 



32 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

time afterwards wanted to choose committees to Parley but was 
answered that they could not Parley to consider whether the King's 
Court Should proceed or not. Judge Chandler informed them 
that if they had any real grievances to complain of if they would 
Present a Petition to the court when sitting it should be heard the 
Sheriff then gave the Posse Liberty To refresh themselves and 
about two Houers afterward He Brought the said Posse Before the 
courthouse again and then again Demanded Entrance m his 
majesty's Name but was again refused in like manner as Before. 
Whereupon he told them that he would Absolutely enter it Either 
Quietly or by force and commanded the Posse to follow close to him 
which they Accordingly Did and getting near The Door he was 
struck several Blows with clubs, which he had the Goodness in Gen- 
eral to fend off so far at least as not to Receive Any very Great 
Damage, but several of their clubs striking Him as he was going 
up the steps, and The Rioters Persisting in maintaining Their 
Ground, he ordered some of the Posse to fire, which they accord- 
ingly did. The Rioters then fought Violently with their clubs and 
fired some few fire arms at the Posse by which Mr. Justice 
Butterfield received a slight shot in the arm, and another of the 
Posse received a light shot in the head with Pistol Bullets : But 
happily none of the Posse were mortally wounded. Two persons 
of the Rioters were Dangerously wounded (one of whom is since 
dead) and several others of the Rioters were also wounded but not 
Dangerously so. Eight of the Rioters were taken prisoners 
(including the one which is since Dead) & the wounded were taken 
care of by Doct. Day, Doct. Hill and Doct. Chase. The latter of 
which Avas immediately sent for on Purpose. The rest of the 
Rioters Dispersed giving out Threats that they would collect all 
the force Possible and would return as on this Day to revenge 
themselves on the Sheriff and on several others of the Posse. 

"This Being a true state of the facts without the least Exagger- 
ation on the one side or Dominion on the other We humbly submit 
to Every Reasonable Inhabitant whether his majesty's courts of 
Justice the Grand and only security For the life liberty and prop- 
erty of the publick should Be trampled on and Destroyed whereby 
said persons and properties of individuals must at all times be 
exposed to the Rage of a Riotuous and Tunultuous assembly or 
whether it Does not Behove Every of his JNIajesty's Leige subjects 



SECOND GENERATION. 33 

In the said county to assemble themselves forthwith for the Pro- 
tection of the Laws and maintenance of Ji-istice. 
"Dated in open Court the Day and Year Aforesaid. 

"THOMAS CHANDLER, 
NOAH SABIN, 
BENJ'A BUTTERFIELD, 
STEP'H GREENLEAF, 
BILDAD ANDROS, 
S. GALE, Clk." 

In 1852 an attempt was made by the most distinguished and 
patriotic citizens of Vermont, to obtain from the Legislature of 
that state an appropriation for the purpose of erecting a monument 
to the memory of William French. At the session in 1852, the 
following petition was read in the house : — 

"To the General Assembly of the State of Vermont : 

"The undersigned citizens of this State, believing that it is not 
only a duty, but inseparable from the love of country and the sup- 
port of free institutions, to cherish the memory of those who, on 
momentous occasions, have offered up their lives for the public 
good, beg leave to call the attention of the Legislature to the 
perishing state of the memorial erected at Westminster, in 1775, 
over the body of William French, the proto-martyr of Vermont 
independence, if not that of America. We think that there is a 
turning point in every revolution, giving it a fixed and decisive 
character, namely, the first resistance unto blood ; and it is almost 
needless to say with what spirit and patriotism this was done by 
the young man just mentioned, or what an immense impulse was 
given by his devoted sacrifice to the followers of Chittenden, Allen, 
and Warner, resulting at last in the freedom and independence of 
the State of Vermont. The monument of crumbling slate, with 
its rude but emphatic inscription, erected by what we may now 
call the pious hands of the men of those days, is now fast perishing 
away, and, unless some steps are taken to save it, will soon wholly 
disappear. Feeling that this ought not to be, and that the duty of 
preventing it will be performed in a more honorable and imposing 
manner, and be much more indicative of the spirit of our whole 
people, if done by the State, we venture to pray that such means 



34 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

may be taken by the Legislature as are most meet and proper for 
that purpose." To this petition there were appended the names of 
Charles K. Williams, William C. Bradley, Carlos Coolidge, Daniel 
Kellogg, Jacob Collamer, Charles K. Field, and fifty-seven other 
persons, together with the names of eighteen of the relatives of 
William French. The subject was referred to a select committee. 
A very able report, favorable to the request of the petitioners, and 
containing much historical information of value, was prepared by 
the committee and presented to the House on the ninth of Novem- 
ber. At the same time they reported the following bill, and 
respectfully recommended its passage :— 

"An Act making an appropriation for a Monument to William 

French. 

"It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of 

Vermont, as follows : 

"Section i. A surli not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars 
is hereby appropriated, to be expended under the direction of the 
Governor, in the erection of a granite Monument over the grave of 
William French, at Westminster, and the Auditor of Accounts is 
directed to audit the accounts of the Governor for the expenditures 
herein provided, and draw orders on the Treasurer of the State for 

the same. 

"Section 2.' This act shall take effect from its passage." 

The petition, report, and bill were laid on the table, and the clerk 
was "ordered to procure the printing of five hundred copies for the 
use of the house." On its introduction subsequently, the bill was 
advocated by Hon. William C. Bradley, of Westminster, in a speech 
replete with patriotic sentiments, forcible arguments and historic 
facts of the most interesting character. To the great regret of a 
very large minority, the bill was defeated by a few votes, on its third 

reading. 

The people of Westminster concluded that, if the Legislature 
could not be persuaded by so able an advocate as Hon. William 
Bradley to make an appropriation for a suitable monument to be 
erected to the memory of William French, no one else would be 
likely to succeed in undertaking such a measure, and some eight or 
more years afterwards, the selectmen of the town erected a 
memorial stone which took the exact form and inscription of the 




I 



Famous Gun, Powder Horn, and Name Plate. 



SECOND GENERATION. 35 

original, but in quality and hardness much superior to the old slate- 
stone. The work was done at the expense of the town and is good 
evidence that the people of Westminster, like Old Mortality wdiose 
image appears above the inscription on French's gravestone took 
much mterest and pleasure in endeavoring to preserve this milestone 
to eternity from the decay of which it is commemorative The 
Legislature of 1872 concluded to profit by the example of the 
Westminster people and made an appropriation to build a mon- 
ument to the memory of William French, and the same was erected 
m the summer of 1873 at a cost of over $500. 

The traditional story about the trial and banishment of Alexander 
Kathan to the limits of his farm for one year, because of his 
presence with a gun at the Westminster insurrection, would not 
have had a place in the History of Dummerston, had the author of 
that work known the facts in the case before its publication He 
very much regretted its introduction when the facts became known 
by a study of the attending circumstances, and, as a result of his 
labor, the following publication appeared in The Vermont Phcenix 
m October, 1897, vindicating Mr. Kathan from a false accusation: 

"Events Which Preceded and Led to the Court House 'Massacre' 
-Alexander Kathan, a Prominent Dummerston Citizen, in 
thePtght-Hts Grm Nozv in the Possession of a Descendant 
in Dujnmerston, Did Not Contain a Ball 'More Friendlv to 
the King Than to the Congress,' as Tradition Claims~Dr 
Solomon Harvey, the 'Village Hampden' of Dummerston. 

cnZ^''' ' "Z- T '"'^^^'''^'^^ ^' Chester in 1770 for Cumberland 
county, now Wmdsor and Windham counties, the location of the 
county seat at that place and the men appointed to office by the 
government of New York caused much dissatisfaction among the 
citizens of the county. Charges of bribery and corruption were 
made and resistance was offered on the ground that the establish- 
ment of the county was a sham and not a reality. 

Colonel Nathan Stone of Windsor acted a prominent part in this 
resistance and was the leader of 'a mob comprising about thirtv 
persons armed with guns, swords, pistols and clubs,' which forcibly 
prevented the high sheriff, Daniel Whipple, from re;rresting Joseph 
Wait, who had been in custody a short time previously. These 



36 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

'rioters' appeared at the court house in a noisy and tumultuous 
manner, Col. Stone being armed with a sword, Wait with a dagger, 
and the remainder of the 'motley crew with large staves and clubs.' 
The court was opened in the usual manner by the officers and 
judges. The rioters then entered the court house in regular order, 
bearing their weapons and with their hats on, formed in a regular 
body facing the court. Col. Stone with drawn sword, and Joseph 
Wait with drawn dagger, advanced to the table in front of the 
judges' seat. The colonel, addressing the judges, demanded, 'in be- 
half of the public,' what business they had to sit there as a court, 
and this demand was clamorously seconded by his followers. The 
court was completely cowed by these 'unwhipped rogues.' as the 
sheriff was powerless before such a resolute and war-like company. 
The judges were finally compelled to adjourn the court to the fol- 
lowing day, in order to prevent any act of violence in open court. 
The rioters exulted over their success and said, 'we have now broken 
up the court ; if we thought we had not efifected it we would go back 
and bring away one of the judges.' Their action was condemned 
as a high-handed outrage upon the civil authority of the county. 
Not a word has been written about these men being patriots or the 
court party being Tories. Their riotous proceedings had aroused 
the whole community, who felt that such proceedings could no 
longer be endured. A paper was circulated extensively in the 
county, alluding to the late attempt to obstruct the court, and was 
signed by four hundred and sixty-eight citizens who disapproved of 
such disorderly conduct. The courts of Chester were not again 
molested, although a riot occurred in Putney, January 2^, 1772, 
during which the enraged citizens 'threatened to go to Chester, 
pull down ye jail and release the prisoners. '- 

"Judge Wells of Brattleboro and others favored the removal of 
the county seat to that town, but the supervisors, chosen for that 
purpose by the towns of Cumberland county, selected Westminster, 
and that place became the shire town in June, 1772. A convention 
of delegates was held at Westminster, October 19, 1774, in which 
the towns in the county were very generally represented. In the 
resolutions adopted on that occasion are these words : 'We will bear 
testimony against, and discourage all riotous, tumultuous and 
unnecessary mobs, which tend to injure the persons or properties of 
harmless individuals.' A second convention was held at West- 



SECOND GENERATION. 37 

minster, November 30, 1774, in which the delegates from Dum- 
merston were Solomon Harvey, Ebenezer Haven and Hosea Miller, 
A third convention was holden at Westminster, February 7, 1775, 
and twelve towns were represented, including Dummerston, whose 
delegates were Solomon Harvey and Richard Kelley. The pro- 
ceedings at these conventions indicated loyalty to the British 
government, although the delegates at the last convention were 
friendly to the cause of independence in the different colonies. 
Probably two-thirds of the voters in the county at that time favored 
the jurisdiction of New York. Even so late as August, 1778, when 
a vote was taken to ascertain the views of the citizens in the 
eastern and southern part of the county, twelve towns, including 
Brattleboro, Dummerston, Putney and Westminster, voted on this 
question of jurisdiction. There were four hundred and eighty 
voters who supported New York, three hundred and twenty who 
supported the state of Vermont, and one hundred and eighty-five 
who were neutral in opinion. 

"The first interruption of the courts of New York occurred at 
Westminster, ^larch 13, 1775, and is known as the 'Westminster 
massacre.' The citizens of Dummerston who took an active part 
in stopping the court inchuled Dr. Solomon Harvey, Joseph Temple, 
John Hooker, Jonathan Knight and Daniel Houghton, who was 
mortally wounded in the fight. The company from Brattleboro, 
including William French, while on their way to Westminster, 
stopped for a short time at Ebenezer Haven's in Dummerston. 
They boasted with acclaiming cheers that they were going up to 
Westminster to prevent the court party from taking their seats. 
Alexander Kathan, Esq., a prominent citizen of the town, resided 
near Mr. Haven's place. As soon as he learned what was the 
intention of the company from Brattleboro he shouldered his long 
gun, marched to Westminster and joined the defenders of the court 
party. The proceedings in stopping the court for a time at Chester 
by the company of men led by Col. Stone, were, no doubt, still 
fresh in his memory ; also the resolutions adopted by the delegates 
from Dummerston and other towns in convention at Westminster, 
October 19, 1774, in which it was stated that they would discourage 
'all riotous, tumultuous and unnecessary mobs.' 

"The events at Westminster on the thirteenth of !\Iarch resulted 
in bloodshed and loss of life and caused a general disposition among 



38 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

the inhabitants of the county to resist the g-overn.nent of New York. 
Committees were chosen to meet at Westminster, April, ii, 1775, 
the delegates from Dummerston being Solomon Harvey, Ebenezer 
Haven, Cornelius Jones and William Negus. They were 
instructed to meet other committees at Westminster and 'there to 
consult on the best methods of dealing with the unprovoked 
murthers of William French and Daniel Houghton.' Resolutions 
were adopted at that meeting, declaring it to be the duty of the 
inhabitants to wholly renounce and resist the administration of the 
New York government. Major Abijah Love joy was moderator 
and Dr. Reuben Jones of Rockingham clerk of the convention. 
At the time of the court troubles in Westminster Dr. Jones mounted 
his horse and rode bareheaded all the way to Dummerston to call 
the people to arms to resist the encroachments of the party of 
oppression. Col. Hazeltine, Charles Phelps and Col. Ethan Allen 
were chosen a committee to prepare a remonstrance and petition 
to King George to be taken out of the oppressive jurisdiction and 
either annexed to some other government or erected and incorpor- 
ated into a new one. The proceedings indicated loyalty to the Brit- 
ish government, but hatred to New York. 

"At a town meeting in Dummerston, May 18, 1774, a majority 
of the voters present voted not to choose selectmen for the ensuing 
year, as a result of over-persuasion by persons favorable to the gov- 
ernment of New York. They were not long in finding out their 
mistake and rectified it at a town meeting held on the tenth of June 
following, by choosing Joseph Hildreth, Enoch Cook and Solomon 
Harvey trustees or selectmen for the year ensuing. November 28, 
1774, another town meeting was held and assessors, Alexander 
Kathan and Enoch Cook, were chosen to purchase for the use of 
the town a quantity of gun-powder, lead and flints. No ammu- 
nition had been bought for the town at the time of the Westminster 
massacre. The impetuous Dr. Harvey became impatient of delay 
and undertook to force the purchase. The assessors refused to 
make the assessment necessary to obtain the ammunition, thinking, 
no doubt, that the time had not yet arrived when it was expedient 
to do so. Through the influence of the committee of safety to 
inspect the conduct of the inhabitants, of whom Dr. Harvey was 
chairman, Alexander Kathan and Enoch Cook were dismissed 
from their office as assessors at a town meeting held April 6, 1775, 



SECOND GENERATION. 39 

because they refused to assess the town for the purchase of a stock 
of ammunition agreeable to a vote of the town November 28, 1774. 

"No vote was taken to prevent them from acting in a public sta- 
tion until by their conduct they evinced the spirit of a patriot, as 
stated in Hall's History of Eastern Vermont. Mr. Hall's mistake 
was made when he examined the town records in 1851 by reading 
the following vote recorded November 23, 1775, or seven months 
after the assessors were dismissed : 'V^otide not to Send Daligates to 
nue York — Votide that Enoch Cook Shuld not Serve nor Stand as a 
Commity man for the town nor for the County of Cumberland Nor 
act in this town in a publick Station.' This was a freak of the 
voters opposed to Mr. Cook, and Mr. Kathan's name is not 
mentioned. Mr. Cook, as one of the fathers of the town, had 
doubtless advised that delegates to New York be chosen, but his 
opponents thought not and voted accordingly. Yet Mr. Cook 
sustained his contention and five days later the town voted to 
reconsider the former vote and 'Votide to send two Daligates to 
New York By being informid that it was Nedfull to send them.' 
But the voters retaliated and 'Votid that John Hooker Shall 
Represent this town to set at Westminster in the Room of Enoch 
Cook and that said hooker Shall Cary the town Votes to west- 
minster.' The spirit of a patriot was not involved in this con- 
tention. Mr. Cook was then serving as selectman and continued 
to serve in that capacity throughout the year 1775, and was reelected 
to that office for five successive years, covering nearly the whole 
period of the Revolutionary struggle for independence. The pat- 
riotic citizens of Dummerston showed by their votes that Enoch 
Cook was not a Tory but a friend to American liberty. 

"The committee, if they attempted it, failed to secure a vote 
against Alexander Katlian to prevent him from acting for the town 
in a public station. They took his gun away from him because 
they judged him unfriendly to the Continental Congress. Mr. 
Kathan bought the gun in 1756 and his name and the date of 
purchase were engraved on a silver plate embedded in the stock. 
The old gun, which measures six feet in length, is still in existence, 
and its owner values it highly as a relic of the Westminster fight and 
the Revolutionary times. Mr. Kathan had been prominent in 
affairs connected with the organization of the town and, withal, 
was a verv worthv citizen. Therefore, at a town meeting held Mav 



40 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

i6 1775, not quite a month after the battle of Lexmgton wa^ 
fought, fully arousing and uniting the inhabitants in the cause of 
freedom, it was 'votide that Elexander Kathan Should have his 
gun ' The inhabitants were so full of patriotism that a town 
meeting was called the twenty-second day of June followmg and 
it was 'Votid that the town Act a Cording to the County Congras 
in thaer Resolves. Votid in By the melisha of the town Jonathan 
Knight Captain, Josiah Boyden Lieutenant and that wilham Neagos 
be the insien for the mehsha of said town.' Dr. Harvey stil 
persisted in persecuting Enoch Cook and Mr. Kathan and co lected 
letters of evidence against them. At a town meetmg held the 
twenty-second of August, i775- it was voted that 'tis the SenCe of 
this town that the Letters that are in the hand of Doctor Solomon 
Harvv are Not any EvidanCe in the Case which the Commite 
is Coilectin for the Evidance which tha are to Colect is the Bad 
Conduct of the Cort from its fust Setting up the Cort Down to the 
fust of march Last and that those Letters only Shue that the Peple 
ware Displeaised at the Earbitary Conduct of the offiseirs of the 
Cort and ware Rady to Rise and stop the Cort before that time; 
and those Lettors Show Like wise the unity of the People and pur 
fix the time; and we think it Best not to have those Letors [Dr 
Harvev's] goe to Westminster. Jonathan Knight, Town Clerk. 

''Mr Kathan was further vindicated from the charge of being 
unfriendly to the cause of American liberty by being elected town 
representative in 1782 and 1783, and selectman m 1786-87-88. 
These facts sustain the contention that Alexander Kathan was a 
true patriot during all the struggle for American independence, as 
no man with the least taint of Toryism could have been elected to 
represent the patriotic town of Dummerston immediately after the 
close of the Revolutionary war. 

"As the town records are silent about his removal, it is important 
to state what became of Solomon Harvey, 'Practitioner of Physic,' 
the 'village Hampden' of Dummerston, 'chairman of the vigilant 
committee, full of zeal, courage and patriotism, who with jealous 
watchfulness' observed the conduct of the inhabitants during the 
times which tried men's souls. A short time before the town 
voted that Alexander Kathan should have his gun. he announced to 
the authorities that he should resign all public offices which he 
held among which was that of town clerk. At the town meeting. 



SECOND GENERATION. 41 

May i6, 1775, in which the committee of safety were instructed to 
return the gun taken from J\Ir. Kathan, Jonathan Knight, Esq., 
was chosen town clerk to succeed Dr. Harvey. Mr. Knight was 
a member of the committee of safety, was in the court house fight 
at Westminster, and received a buck shot in the shoulder which 
remained there more than thirty years. August 22, 1775, the 
town voted not to let Dr. Harvey's letters go to Westminster ; and 
on December 21, following, it was voted that Jonathan Knight, 
Enoch Cook and Joseph Hildreth, selectmen, secure the town 
records in Dr. Harvey's hand, as he did not deliver them up at the 
time of his resignation. At the beginning of the year 1775, the 
people of this 'rock-ribbed village' allowed full scope to his ardent 
patriotism ; but at its close he felt that his movements of a patriotic 
character were wholly checked by 'inveterate enemies of public 
affairs.' Therefore, he wTote a farewell address on the town 
records, ending in these words : 'I conclude by subscribing myself 
the town's and all mankind's hearty and sincere friend, Solomon 
Harvey.' After waiting his valedictory he surrendered the town 
records to the selectmen, packed up his effects and removed to the 
neighboring town of Chesterfield, N. H., where he took an active 
part in the aft'airs of the town during the Revolution. He was 
selectman there in 1789-92, and town clerk of Chesterfield from 
1800 to 181 7. He died probably in that town about 1820. 

"Alexander Kathan remained in town and continued to cultivate 
his broad acres and fertile meadows in the valley of the Connecti- 
cut for fifty years. He arrived in town with his family from 
Worcester, Mass., IMay i, 1761, and always lived on the farm 
which he cleared and occupied so many years. He died February 
14, 1825, aged ninety-five years and six months. His farm is now 
known as the Dr. Sholes farm. Police Commissioner Osborne of 
Boston, now consul general to London, occupied the fine looking 
residence on the place a few summers ago, and while living there 
was visited by Gov. William McKinley, now President of the 
United States." 

Margaret Baird, the wife of Alexander Kathan, died July 14, 
1803, aged nearly seventy-one years. He married second, Decem- 
ber 21, 1806, Mrs, Mary (Hart) Davenport of Dummerston, widow 
of Charles Davenport, one of the early settlers of the town, who 
located "on the green" next neighbor to Isaac Miller, in 1770 and 



42 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

built the house \Yhere John F. Stearns hved many years. She 
Hved to a great age and died June 22, 1830, aged ninety-eight 
years, three months. 

The family burial lot of Alexander Kathan is in the East Dum- 
merston cemetery near \Yhere his brother Daniel settled. It was a 
portion of land leased forever to the town of Dummerston, Jan- 
uary 21, 1813, by Benjamin Frost, son-in-law of Daniel Kathan, 
who owned fifty-one acres of the estate in 1808. 

Alexander Kathax's Neighbors in 1793. 

John Kilbury, who signed the settlers' call with I\Ir. Kathan 
for the town meeting in 1771, settled on lot No. 23, east of Slab 
Hollow. Ebenezer Haven, also a signer of the same warrant, was 
a blacksmith whose farm joined Mr. Kathan's on the south and is 
still kept in the family name by his great-grandson, Orrin Haven. 
Abel Haven, son of Ebenezer, was his next door neighbor on the 
west side of the road not many rods south of Mr. Kathan's new 
framed house. John and Eleazer Rhoades lived westerly on the 
same lot, No. 25, on which Air. Kathan built his new house, and 
who sold out to his son, Thomas Kathan, before 1801. John 
Rhoades was probably the father of Hannah Rhoades who married 
Tillotson Aliller about 1781. Tillotson was selected by his brothers 
to take care of his parents, Capt. Isaac Aliller and wife, in their 
declining years, but he carried out his trust so badly that the 
brothers deposed him and placed the youngest brother, William, 
in charge about 1786, who has an important place in the history 
of the town as Major William Miller. Tillotson left Dummerston 
soon after this and never returned to stay. He died in New York 
in 1804. The oldest gravestone in the East Dummerston cemetery 
was erected "In memory of Sally, daughter of Tillotson Miller and 
Mrs. Hannah his wife, died September 25, 1785, aged three years." 
Elijah Brown, a soldier of the Revolution, also settled at the west 
end of lot No. 25. The widow Rebecca Barrett, who died May 
15, 1809, aged seventy-nine, was the "Parent of Lieutenant Elijah 
Brown," as is inscribed on a gravestone in East Dummerston 
cemetery. Gideon Bumliam lived north of Canoe brook on the 
east side of the road opposite the well-known Chappell place where 
Charles E. Glidden now resides. Being suspected as one of 




Luke Kathan, Grandfather of Dr. D. L. Kathan. 



SECOND GENERATION. 43 

the murderers of a silk peddler at ]\Iurder Hollow, he sold his 
homestead, house, barn and twelve acres of land "on east side of 
the road" to Levi Bigelow of Putney, March 21, 1801. Bigelow 
sold the same to William Winn of Boylston, Mass., June 22, 1803, 
for $400. The farm then had sixty acres of land and was located 
in lots Nos. 26 and 27. William Winn and wife Silence sold to 
James Flarida, September 21, 1804, but bought it back again in 
1806. The first husband of Mrs. Winn was John Flarida, who 
died November 11, 1785. They came from Shrewsbury, Mass., 
and bought of James Nichols a part of lot No. 27, containing 
fifty-eight acres. May 19, 1779, which was the same place that 
he sold to James Flarida and repurchased in 1806. Mrs. Winn 
died March 11, 181 1, aged sixty-three years. Mr. Winn married, 
January 4, 1824, Hadassah Bemis. About one hundred rods 
north from the Flarida place on the east side of the road, a 
stately old pine stood alone in a pasture near the wayside until 
December 4, 1898, when it was blown down in a gale of wind 
and rain. It fell across the highway and broke down the telephone 
wires. The tree was over 100 feet tall, free from limbs until near 
the top and as straight as a mast. The forest of pines among 
which it grew, was cut down many years ago and this grand old 
tree was left standing alone, reminding the traveler of the primeval 
forest of the plain on which the Kathans settled. 

Joseph Haven married Pamelia Houghton in 1789 and lived west 
of the Flarida place and not far from the Glidden homestead. 
Abel Johnson lived farther north on the branch road. Lieutenant 
John Shepard Gates, who married Hannah ]Moore, settled on lot 
No. 28, in 1770. His son, Shepard Gates, and grandson, Alanson, 
lived on the parental homestead many years. Capt. Ashbel John- 
son lived next neighbor north of the Gates place and southwest of 
John Kathan. Col. William Sargeant, who was town representa- 
tive in 1788, lived in the vicinity of John and Gardner Kathan in 
the northeast corner of the town. These short sketches of Alex- 
ander Kathan's neighbors, including his brother, Lieut. Daniel 
Kathan, comprised school district No. 4 in 1793. The school house 
is now located at the extreme north line of Alexander's farm, east 
side of the road. In 1810, forty-six pupils attended the school. 
The population of the town in 1810 was 1,704, the largest number 
of inhabitants since the town was organized. There were twelve 



44 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

schools in town that year, seven on the east side of West river and 
five on the west side in West Dummerston. The school at Dum- 
merston Centre numbered ninety-one pupils ; in the Samuel But- 
ton district thirty-eight ; in the Samuel Wheeler District ninety- 
five ; in the Kathan district forty-six ; in the Boyden district sixty- 
three ; in the Nathaniel French district forty-eight ; in the Hague 
district twenty-eight ; in the West village district sixty-one ; up 
West river near the old Taft tavern forty-two ; in the Nathaniel 
Bixby district where there were nine families thirty-one ; in the 
Luke Butterfield district of ten families thirty-three, and in the 
Joel Stockwell district of nine families thirty-eight, located in the 
extreme west part of the town ; the whole number of pupils in 
town in 1810, being six hundred and fourteen. This information 
about the schools has not been previously published. The pop- 
ulation in 1900 is seven hundred and twenty-six, the number of 
schools seven, and number of pupils one hundred and thirty-five. 
The first school house built in the Kathan district stood at the 
south end of the little plain on which the present school bililding 
now stands, on the brow of the north bank of Canoe brook, and 
was standing there in 1850. The stage road passed by it straight 
down the steep hill, across the Murder Hollow bridge and straight 
up the steep hill south of the brook. The highway at the present 
time winds along the hill-side, and thus the steep incline is avoided. 



Alexander Kathan's Farm First Settled in 1761. 

Photographic View Taken in 1890. 

The illustration of the farm shows nearly all the cultivated 
portion of land. The long line of forest hills, that meets the sen- 
sible horizon, is in Westmoreland, N. H. The view is from a 
standpoint looking easterly from the western end of the farm. 
The Connecticut river forms the eastern boundary line of the estate 
and flows southerly near the foot of the long range of New 
Hampshire hills. The Kathan estate extended south to the farm 
buildings seen among the shade trees on the right, or the Deacon 
Abel Haven place, settled by his grandfather, Ebenezer Haven, in 
1770. The residence shown in the view was the home of Fanny 



SECOND GENERATION. 45 

Haven, born April i8, 1783, who married Daniel Kathan, Jr., 
October 23. 1800. She was the grandmother of Mayor Charles H. 
Kathan of Derby Line, Vermont. 

The central group of buildings shows the residence of Alex- 
ander Kathan, Esq., with modern barns erected by Dr. C. H. Sholes 
since 1884. A turn seen in the highway across the plain at the 
left, is a part of the "Great Road" leading past the front of the 
buildings not shown in the engraving, which is a rear view of the 
Kathan Homestead. In the dim distance fDeyond the turn in the 
road, may be seen the Kathan Meadows, where Capt. John 
Kathan settled in 1752. In the foreground appear Dr. Sholes and 
a small number of his thoroughbred cows. The stately and 
majestic first growth maples, shown in another engraving in this 
volume, form a part of the most ancient sugar orchard in Vermont, 
a description of which is given in Appendix C. The home of 
Alexander Kathan is plainly seen in that illustration. The two- 
story dwelling house seen across the river in Westmoreland is 
located on the line of march taken by the Indians who captured 
Mrs. Mary Rowlandson of Nashaway, now Lancaster, Mass., 
February 10, 1676. See Appendix Q in statement made by Judge 
Wheeler in referring to the piety of Mrs. Rowlandson. The 
Indians, about fifteen hundred in number attacked the town of 
Lancaster during King Philip's War. They surrounded the gar- 
rison house in which forty-two of the inhabitants, including Mrs. 
Rowlandson, the wife of the minister, had taken refuge. The 
house was assailed with firebrands, and the brave defenders had 
the choice of remaining therein and being burned to death, or of 
rushing from the doors to meet death by knife or bullet. A? ]\Irs. 
Rowlandson stepped from the door, carrying her six-year-old child, 
a bullet mortally wounded the little one and slightly injured the 
mother. \Vith her children, she was made a prisoner, together 
with twenty others of them all. the remainder of the garrison being 
put to death. According to Mrs. Rowlandson's own story, "there 
were five persons taken in one house, the father and mother and 
a sucking child they l<nocked on the head, and two others they 
took away alive. There were also two others, out of the garrison, 
who were set upon ; one was knocked in the head, the other escaped. 
Another there was who, running along, was shot and wounded, 
and fell down ; he begged of them his life, promising them money 



46 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

(as they told me), but they would not hearken to him, but knocked 
him on the head, stripped him naked and split open his bowels." 

The route of Mrs. Rowlandson's journey after being made cap- 
tive, was in all probability as follows : She was carried the first 
night to George's Hill, which lay a mile to the westward of 
Princeton. Thence southwesterly to New Braintree ; thence north- 
west to Millers river. Reaching the Connecticut river at North- 
field, they traveled up four or five miles into New Hampshire. 
This was March 2, 1676. Next morning they crossed into Ver- 
mont at the bend of the river in Vernon, going up that side of 
the river five miles, recrossed into Chesterfield, N. H. After this 
they worked their way up the river through Westmoreland, and 
into Walpole as far as Cold river. In returning they went down 
the river five or six miles and then turned to the southeast in the 
direction of Mount Wachusett, and on the third day after, they 
arrived at Wachusett, now Princeton, where she was redeemed by 
John Hoar of Concord, Mass., for twenty pounds in goods and 
money. The place of redemption was near a rock fifteen feet high 
now called "Redemption Rock," on which Senator George F. Hoar 
of Worcester caused to be chiseled the inscription which closes 
this paragraph, and formahy deeded it with a small plot of ground 
near by to his grand-nephew. Master John Hoar, aged ten years, 
the child of Samuel Hoar of Concord, Mass., June 13, 1901. 
The inscription carved deep into the immortal stone, reads as 
follows : "Upon this rock. May 2d, 1676, was made the agreement 
for the ransom of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson of Lancaster, between 
the Indians and John Hoar of Concord. King Philip was with 
the Indians, but refused his consent." 

Transfers of Alexander Kathan's Farm. 

The estate remained in the Kathan name until March 8, 1866, 
when George Frank Kathan, a great-grandson of Alexander, sold 
the same to Solomon Wilson of Rockingham, Vt., for $6,300, and 
on the same day Mr. Wilson deeded the farm to I. B. Pufifer of 
Putney. Air. Pufifer sold a timber lot and pasture north of the 
plain and west of the highway to Edward Chappell, November 20, 
1874, and the remainder of the farm, including the tillage land and 
buildings, to F. M. Lewis, December 14, 1874. Mr. Lewis sold 



SECOND GENERATION. 47 

the same to Deacon Joel Haven of Rutland, ]\Iarch 9, 1881. Dr. 
C. H. Sholes bought Air. Haven's interest in the place, May 
I, 1883, and that of Mr. Chappell, May 23, 1884. Dr. Sholes 
made extensive repairs and improvements costing large sums of 
money, during his ownership of the estate, and sold the same to 
Charles Miner, May 21, 1892. Aliss Caroline S. Hotaling is the 
present owner of the farm, which she bought of Mr. Miner, May 
26, 1894. 

Alexander Kathan's Will. 

State of Vcrinoiit, District of Marlboro, SS. 

At the Probate Court begun and holden at Brattleboro within 
and for said District on the first Wednesday being Apr. 6, 1825. 
Present Hon. Lemuel Whitney, Esq., Judge. 

Be it remembered that Thomas Kathan, Son and Legatee of 
Alexander Kathan late of Dummerston in said District deceased — 
The order of Publication issued in this case having been Complied 
with — exhibited for Probate an Instrument purporting to be the 
Last Will and Testament of the said Deceased, together with two 
Several Codicils thereunto annexed, which said Instrument and 
Codicils are in the words and figures following, to wit : 

In the name of God, Amen. I, Alexander Kathan of Dum- 
merston, in the County of Windham and State of Vermont, Esq., 
being advanced in years, but of sound mind & memory — blessed 
be God therefore — do this twelth day of October, 1803, make and 
subscribe this my Last will & Testament in manner & form folow- 
ing, viz. — & first I do recomend my soul into the hands of 
Almighty God who gave it me, & my body to the earth from 
whence it came in hopes of a joyful resurection through the merits 
of my saviour Jesus Christ, & as for that little worldly estate 
where with it has pleased God to bestow on me I dispose of it as 
follows (viz.) & first I do give and devise unto my son Thomas 
Kathan to have my farm that I now live on with the live stock I 
lieve on it, except one cow and the wool of two sheep to Elisabeth 
yearly to have all the farming tools thereunto belonging ; except the 
great harrow to son John and Daniel's family, to collect & pay all 
my just debts and the legacies hereunto annexed within three years 
after my decease, to have my Bible, Desk, Book case & Gun, the 



48 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Religious Books to be divided according to their bigness & Good- 
ness, the Law Books may be divided or sokl as they agree— Molly 
meaning Elihu Sargeant's wife, one hundred dollars, meaning to 
make that sum up which with her husband is charged with on 
book & dated the 26th of December, 1801, & March 25, 1802 — 
Molly and Elizabeth to divide their mother's clothing & household 
furniture Thomas to go shares with them in the kitchen & cupboard, 
except the silver Tea spoons, to molly & Elizabeth & I hope that they 
will not differ about that — John to have the tool Chest in the shop, 
with the tools in it, and the other tools, belonging to make wheels, 
except the broad axe hand saw. Square one pair of compases 
the Jointer & plains on the bench, augers chissels gouge frow 
nippers great hammer & cast tap boarer — to Thomas. John Lo 
have leave to get timber and board logs for his own buildings when 
needed & to have one hundred and fifty Dollars in stock and cash 
— Daniel or his family to have two hundred dollars meaning to 
make up that sum that he is charged on book and dated December 
1799 — &c to be paid in money and things that he and his family 
need when needed — to Elizabeth so long as she may remain a sin- 
gle woman to have the south rooni in the house I now live in, to 
have one cow well kept summer and winter and wool of two sheep 
and what flax she needs for her own use ready dressed yearly & 
with her assistance while able to work to be comfortably main- 
tained with food and raiment & physick when needed, & all other 
necessaries in case of sickness, to have her mother's saddle and 
Bridle & a good horse to ride when she pleases, to have her 
mother's Case of Drawers and Tables, to have a good fire kept when 
necessary at all seasons of the year and if it should so happen that 
she should join any person in a family state to be made equal to 
her sister Molly to have one two yeirs old heifer with her Cow & 
six sheep meaning that her cow & wool to be kept good while single 
& all other necessaries through the house as used. — to my grandson 
John, if he should live with me or Thomas till he is twenty-one 
years of age to have fifty Dollars in neat stock, the front Pew on 
the left hand of the alley in the meeting house to belong to son 
Thomas — the 2d Pew at the right hand of dore to belong to John 
& Daniel & their families — As for Wyman, his Father gaive him 
to me & Son Thomas, when he was about fore yeirs old and I hope 
he will not be neo:lected bv neither of us — Thomas to halve the 



SECOND GENERATION. 4q 

Clock so long as he may live then his Brothers & Sisters, to haive 
an equal right to it. 

[I forgot the watch I intend John should haive it when I haive 
done with it.] lictivc 

Alexander Kathan. 

[Seal.] 

..ni^rt'""^ ^'^^'^ ^^ '^'' '^ Alexander Kathan as for his Last 
V\ 1 1 & Testament m presents of us whose names are hereunder 
written-who did each of us subscribe our names at his request & 
in his presence. ^ 

DANIEL KATHAN 
BENJAMIN FROST 
JACOB FROST 

Codicil Number One. 

';Whereas I Alexander Kathan of Dummerston in the Countv of 
Windham & State ot Vermont Esq., did on the 12th day of Oct 
1803 m dividing my little property of worldly substance amongst 
my children and I do this 20th day of Oct. 1805-make and Publtsh 
his Codicil to my last Will & Testament in manner & form fol- 
lowing and whereas in that will I did give to mv son Daniel the 
sum of two hundred Dollars to be paid in money & things that he 
and his family needed & whereas he and his wife are both dead & 
leave some property to their Children & whereas I did give to son 
Daniel my great harrow and shaive I now give to son John the 
harrow. & the shave to son Thomas-and as I have paid to son 
Darnel and his Family the sum of one hundred and forty Dollars 
.V Sixty-three cents in their sickness & for the support of him and 
bis family my will now is to ceas paing anymore on that will-and 
It .s my clesire that this my Codicil be annexed to and made a part 
of my last W ill & testament to all intents and purposes " 
Signed and sealed the same as the will. 

Codicil Number T\^•o. 

This codicil contains the following changes : "as I have in mv will 
given my son Thomas Kathan the Farm on which I now live with 
the Cattel sheep horses & Farming utensils thereon-& on further 



50 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Consideration he having landed property of his own and in case he 
should be taken away and leive no male heirs it is my Will that my 
son John Kathan, & after him his son John Kathan should Inherit 
my Farm on which I now live but not so as to deprive my present 
wife of a Comfortable support during her life so long as she 
remains my widow and at my decease to give her a decent burial — 
& in case my son Thomas is taken away that his wife shall have the 
privilige of a part of the house so long as she remains his widow." 

Dated May i, 1807. Signed and sealed the same as the will. 

This will was presented at the Probate office in Brattleboro, 
April 6, 1825. 

Epitaphs of Alexander Kathan and Margaret, His Wife, 
ON Gravestones in Cemetery at East Dummerston. 

Erected in memory of 

Alexander Kathan Esq., 

who died Feb. 14, 1825, 

JE. 95 years 9 m-s & 11 d-s. 

Naked as from the earth we came, 

And crept to life at first, 
We to the earth return again, 

And mingle with our dust. 

The 2d settler in this town. 

In memory of 

Mrs. Margaret Kathan 

the wife and dear companion of 

Alexander Kathan Esqr. 

who died 14th, July 1803, in the 71 year of her 

age; and was one of the heads of the 2d 

familey in Dummerston in 1761. 

The dear delights we here injoy, 

And fondley call our own. 
Are but short favous borrow'd now, 

To be repaid anon. 




Jacob Frost. Lived Eighty-Nine Years. 



Chapter III. 

LIEUT. DANIEL KATHAN. 
1741-1807. 

His Marriage and Settlement in Dumnierstoii-Descriptwe Fea- 
tures of Third Settlement in To^n-MUitary Commissions from 
Goz'eruor of Aezv York-Called Upon to Anszver Staters Attor- 
ney s Complamt-Gen. Stephen R. Bradley Counsel for Defend- 
ant-! saae Miller Employed by Mr. Kathan as a Farm Hand 
m i770~E.vtracts from Millers Journal Sho.cing Trials and 
Tnbmatwns of Early Settlers-Interest in Public Affairs-His 
Fanuh the Fnst Admitted to Congregational Chureh After its 
Organization in i779~His Family Reeord and Seeond Mar- 
'1% I "^ ^"""^ ^"^ Disposition of his Estate-Tannery 

Buildings Near his Farm-His Widow's First Marriage and 
Lnitdren. 

Daniel Kathan was married to Ruth Barrett, May 6 1764 bv 
Rev. Bunker Gay of Hinsdale. N. H., and doubtless settled that 
year at the south end of the same plain on which his brother Alex- 
ander made a clearing in 1761, and which up to the advent of the 
Kathans m town, was covered with a silent sea of pines The 
eastern_ boundary is the Connecticut river, the western bank of 
which ,s a steep acclivity sloping down from the elevated plain. 
On the south side flows a never-failing stream called Sahion 
brook which rises in the westerly part of Putney, runs southeasterlv 
through the central part of the town, then easterly through a little 
duster of houses and mills about half a mile west of the Daniel 
Kathan settlement, and empties into the Connecticut near the 
southeast corner of the plain. On the west, the plain is bounded by 
a range of hills and diversified swells of land. Lieut Kathan 
was a "house-wright" by trade as well as a tiller of the soil. His 
miliary title was obtained by his appointment as "First Lieutenant 
ot Captain Allen's Company of Militia in the Countv of Cumber- 
^nd, m the Regiment whereof Eleazer Patterson, Esq., is Colonel " 
His commission, dated August 18, 1778, and signed bv Georo-e 



e 



52 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Clinton, Governor of New York, was in the possession of Joel 
Knight of this to\vn, when the writer saw it thirty years ago. 
On the sixth of February, 1776, in a letter dated at Guilford, 
Benjamin Carpenter, chairman of the committee of safety for 
Cumberland County, communicated to the New York Provincial 
Congress, the annexed list of militia officers chosen in the dif- 
ferent towns comprised within the lower regiment. The nomi- 
nations were confirmed on the first of March. Officers for 
Fulham in one company of the lower regiment were : Jonathan 
Knight, Captain ; Josiah Boyden, First Lieutenant ; Daniel Kathan, 
Second Lieutenant ; Shepard Gates, Ensign. The militia of Cum- 
berland county was subsequently divided by the Legislature of 
New York into the northern regiment and the southern regiment. 
The officers of the southern regiment who received their commis- 
sions from the Council of Appointment of that State, on the 
eighteenth of August, 1778, were as follows: In a company of the 
southern regiment, Fulham had Josiah Allen, Captain ; Daniel 

Kathan, First Lieutenant; Second Leiutenant; 

Shepard Gates, Ensign. 

Complaint of State's Attorney. 

At the Alay session of the Superior Court, held at Westminster 
in 1779, John Kathan, John Kathan, Jr., and Lieutenant Daniel 
Kathan, all of Dummerston, were called upon to answer a complaint 
filed by the State's attorney charging them and others 
with riotous conduct, in that they made an assault upon William 
McWain, a lawful officer, and rescued out of his hands and pos- 
session, two cows. General Stephen R. Bradley was counsel for the 
defendants, and the State's attorney, Noah Smith, Esc[., becoming 
satisfied of his inability to sustain the complaints, entered a nolle 
prosequi. 

June 5, 1782, Lieutenant Daniel Kathan was appointed by the 
authorities of the state of New York, a Justice of the Peace for 
Cumberland county. 

His Hiked Man in 1770. 

Isaac Miller, the fifth son of Captain Isaac Aliller, who lived 
about one mile south of Daniel Kathan, worked for Mr. Kathan 



SECOND GENERATION. 53 

during the summer of 1770, and an extract from his journal is 
given in this place to illustrate some of the trials of the early 
settlers : 

"In the same year, 1767, in September, I went to Dummerston, 
now in Vermont, by Father's order, where I saw and went through 
several scenes that were of consequence to none but myself. 
Father met with many troubles and disappointments in getting the 
town of Dummerston settled with such settlers, and on such con- 
ditions as were stipulated between him and the proprietors. In 
1769 I continued there nearly eight months and part of the time 
alone, and suffered much many ways ; hard labor, hunger, some 
sickness, gnats, mosquitoes and flees in abundance. I finally left 
the place in November much against Father's will, but as we had 
sold all we could, I was so desirous to get to Worcester and eat 
apples and milk, and drink cider, it was impossible to keep me 
longer; and in March, 1770, at the time of the massacre by the 
British in Boston, we moved to Dummerston. I underwent much 
in that journey and had it been undertaken by persons less per- 
severing than brother Joseph and I were, we should have failed 
at last ; but having the assistance of brothers Negus and Wheeler 
(after we arrived at Petersham) we got through. The summer 
that followed was a severe one to me as well as to the rest of the 
family. I had to work for Daniel Kathan where I fared hard and 
worked hard ; but blessed be God ! I had my health and in the fall I 
went to Petersham. In 1771, I returned in March to Dummerston 
where brother Joseph and 1 made a large quantity of sugar. It 
was this year that the title of our land was like to fall through or 
become void. It was firstly purchased of the Indians by Massa- 
chusetts ; sold by them at vendue to the then proprietors or their 
ancestors, granted to them (by their prayer) by New Hampshire; 
and now was ceded by the King's Proclamation to New York ; and 
they granted it to Willard and Kathan and they unwilling the occu- 
pants should have any ; as they knew they were unwilling as well 
as unable to pay the exhorbitant price they demanded. Many 
persons quit that had done but little labor." 

Isaac Miller left Dummerston in 1772 for Massachusetts. He 
had considerable military knowledge and kept a military school 
just before the war of the Revolution. In April, 1775, he went 



54 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

into the army at Cambridge. His military title was captain. In 
October, 1776, he and his family moved to Dummerston. He 
removed afterwards to New York, then to Ashtabula County, Ohio, 
where he died February 14, 1826. 

Engaged in Public Affairs. 

Lieutenant Daniel Kathan was one of the signers for a call to 
organize the town in 1771. He, with Charles Davenport and 
Joseph Hildreth, were then chosen a committee to look out a bury- 
ing place, which was doubtless the one in East Dummerston where 
these men are buried. In 1772, he and his neighbor Ebenezer 
Haven were chosen constables. 

Admission To the Church. 

The Congregational church was organized with sixteen mem- 
bers, August 18, 1779. The first admissions to the church after 
its organization were Daniel and his wife Ruth Kathan, October 
10, 1779. On the following Sunday Lieutenant John S. Gates 
and his wife Hannah united with the church. November 14, 
1779, Lieutenant Daniel Gates and his wife Sarah became mem- 
bers of the church. 

Baptism of Daniel Kathan's Children. 

No register of Daniel Kathan's family was inscribed on the town 
records, nor could any be found when the history of the town was 
in preparation for publication. The record of the family given 
therein was obtained from an inhabitant of the town who remem- 
bered the names of the children, but was uncertain about the order 
of births. It appears from a recent study of the earliest records 
of the church that five children of Daniel Kathan and wife Ruth 
were baptized, October 20, 1779, only ten days after the parents 
were admitted to the church, viz. : Charles, Susanna, Eunice, Rufus 
and Daniel, Jr. Another daughter, Lydia, was baptized August 
13, 1780. Her sister Phebe was baptized May 18, 1783, and the 
youngest child of the family, Dolly, was baptized August 10, 
1788. According to this information, the children of Daniel and 



SECOND GENERATION. 55 

Ruth Kathan were as follows: Charles, born about 1766, mar- 
ried Lydia Scott of Westmoreland, N. H., born January 8, 1772. 
She was a daughter of Waitstill and Lydia Scott. He was of 
Westmoreland at the time of the Revolution, and commanded the 
com.pany that marched from that town on the occasion of the 
alarm at Ticonderoga. Susanna, born about 1768, married Free- 
dom Bigelow of Chesterfield, N. H., December 14, 1788. Eunice, 
born about 1771, married Israel Bigelow June 11, 1792. Rufus, 
born about 1773, married Nabby Stone, November 8, 1795. 
Daniel, Jr., born about 1776, married Fanny Haven, daughter of 
Abel and Rachel (French) Haven of Dummerston, October 23, 
1800. Lydia, born July 8, 1780, married Benjamin Frost, October 
25, 1801. Phebe, born 1783, and Dolly, born August 19, 1786. 
No trace can be found of the three children, Susanna, Eunice and 
Rufus, after their marriage. 

Phebe Kathan, born 1783. 

Married first Dr. William Wilder of Dummerston, January 
6, 1800; se.cond, Josiah Dodge, a soldier in the war of 1812 — 1815. 
She died January 8, i860, aged seventy-seven years and was 
buried in the East Dummerston cemetery. Mr. Dodge, her second 
husband, was born in Westmoreland, N. H., March 19, 1778, and 
married Mrs. Phebe Kathan Wilder about 1806. He died Feb- 
ruary 6, 181 5, on board of a vessel at sea, from the effects of a gun- 
shot wound in his hand which produced lockjaw. He was 
wounded in the battle of Plattsburg, September 11, 1814. Their 
children were, Josiah, born November 15, 1808, married first, 
Hannah C. Webber, second, Eliza Jane Hews of Hard wick, Vt., 
died August 10, 1873 ; Thankful, born 1810, married Lauson Stone 
of Chesterfield, N. H., died February, 1875, in her sixty-fifth year; 
Willard, born February 26, 1813, married Zilpha Temple, Sep- 
tember 5, 1837. Dr. Wilder was a son of John Wilder, the owner 
of a brick yard located at the foot of Clay hill near the old cem- 
etery in which Captain John Kathan and family were buried. Mr. 
Wilder sold the brickyard to Aaron Steel, April 9, 1804. Daniel 
Wilder, John Wilder, Jr., and Steams Wilder, who married Polly, 
a daughter of Lieutenant John S. Gates, September 4, 1814, were 
sons of John Wilder. 



56 history of kathan family. 

Dolly Kathan, 1786-1867. 

She was born August 20, 1786, was baptized August 10, 1788, 
and married Jacob Frost, a brother of Benjamin Frost, about the 
time he bought the southern half of her father's estate, which was 
deeded to him September 4, 1809, by Abel Duncan, administrator. 
Her mother died August 3, 1802, aged fifty-seven. Her father 
married for his second wife Sibyl McFarland, October 18, 1803. 
He died, October 17, 1807, aged sixty-six years. 

Tannery Buildings with Tanyard. 

They were standing on the flat west of the road and south of the 
cemetery at the time, September 29, 1810, when Lieutenant Daniel 
Kathan's widow, Sibyl Kathan, sold her right of dower to Jacob 
Frost. South from the tannery at the top of the hill, was a 
tavern house, owned and managed several years by Captain Jabez 
Butler, a Revolutionary soldier. He was the owner in 1804, and 
Thomas Lewis was the inn-keeper. Daniel Harvey kept the tavern 
in 1 8 10. Benjamin Bangs had a hatter's shop east of the tavern 
in 1805, near the Roger Birchard store. Near it was a cooper's 
shop on the same side of the road. Jacob Houghton owned it in 
1810 and soon after sold it to Asa Houghton. He quitclaimed all 
his right to buildings and land in Dummerston, November 9, 181 5, 
to Giles Alexander, tlie tanyard and buildings included. At that 
time the cooper's shoj) was occupied by Lemuel K. Bemis as a 
blacksmith shop. 

Daniel Kathan Sells One-Half His Farm. 

Benjamin Frost, who married Lydia Kathan in 1801, bought of 
her father. Lieutenant Daniel Kathan, the northern half of lot No. 
13 for $1,000. He sold to Jacob Frost, his brother, May 3, 1813, 
seven and one-half acres of land in the southeast corner of his 
farm next to Salmon brook for $80. November 16, 1814, Jacob 
sold the same to Charles Kathan, Jr., son of Charles and Lydia 
(Scott) Kathan, for $164, and took a mortgage of $100 on the 
place. Charles Kathan, Jr., leased to Widow Sibyl Kathan, Novem- 
ber 16, 1814, for $50, two acres of land with buildings, priv- 




Dolly (Kathan) Frost. Lived Eighty-one Years. 



SECOND GENERATION. 57 

ileges and appurtenances thereon, for and during her natural Hfe, 
and at her decease, the said Charles Kathan, Jr., was to have the 
said premises, or what shall remain of the same, beside supporting 
the said Sibyl during her natural life and at her decease to give her 
a decent Christian burial. 

Benjamin Frost, who bought the northern half of the T3aniel 
Kathan farm, sold ten acres on the west side of the stage road, to 
Jacob Frost. INIarch i. 1815, for $250, and on the same day, Jacob 
Frost sold the land to Lewis Allen of Putney. He also sold the 
southern half of the Daniel Kathan farm to Mr. Allen for $1,250. 

Widow Sibyl Kathan's Homestead. 

Charles Kathan, Jr., who leased a homestead and "two acres of 
land to Widow Sibbel Kathan," married March 29, 181 1, Sabra 
McFarland, who was evidently a daughter of Mrs. Kathan. She 
occupied the homestead two years and four months, and then, for 
some reason not stated, bought of Silas Butler, April i, 1817, a 
homestead half a mile south from the Kathan place, on the east side 
of the stage road, near the tavern house then occupied by Erastus 
Sargeant. The homestead consisted of one and one-eighth acre of 
land, dwelling house, blacksmith shop, barn and shed. The price 
paid was $400. April 15, 1818, she mortgaged her homestead to 
Asa Button for $200 of borrowed money. On December 18, 
1818, she bought the right and title of a well near her home of Silas 
Butler for $45 and was living when the deed was recorded De- 
cember 30, 1 81 8. On January i, 181 7, Charles Kathan. Jr., made 
an assignment of a mortgage deed of $450 given to him by Jesse 
Willard, to Widow Sibyl Kathan as payment for her support 
according to previous contract. Mr. Willard, who came from 
Putney, bought Charles Kathan's place. January 4, 1816, in- 
cluding a brickyard on the premises. 

The Old Tannery in 1832. 

Silas Butler, who married Sally ^NIcFarland. January 25, 1816, is 
said to have owned the old tannery property, located south of 
Lieutenant Kathan's residence. The old building and well-sweep 
were standing in 1832, perhaps later than that date. A portion of 



58 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

the old tannery building was occupied for a dwelling. The old 
millstone, used in the bark mill, that lay imbedded in the earth many 
years, was removed about 1880 and forms a part of the covering on 
a large water-course built that year on the Haven place. 

Lieutenant Daniel Kathan's Estate. 

Benjamin and Jacob Frost sold the place to Lewis Allen, who sold 
it to Luther Allen, December 18, 18 18, for $2,500. The subsequent 
owners were J. Edson Worden, Daniel Bemis, and Oscar L. F. 
Bennett, lately deceased. 

Lieutenant Daniel Kathan's Widow\ 

She married for her first husband, Joseph AIcFarland. They 
were married in Dummerston, February 16, 1789, by Jason Dun- 
can, justice of the peace. Her maiden name was "Sibbell Tarbel" 
as spelled on the town record. It was, doubtless, her sister, Polly 
Tarble, who married Asa Dutton about 1783, as Asa Dutton and 
wife had a daughter Sibyl, born January 4, 1793, who was evidently 
named after her aunt Sibyl. Another daughter was named Sally, 
a family name of the McFarland's. Therefore, the children of 
Joseph and Sibyl McFarland were Sabra, who married Charles 
Kathan, Jr., March 29, 1811, and Sally, who married Silas Butler, 
January 25, 181 6. This information explains why Widow Sibyl 
Kathan bought a homestead of Silas Butler, April i, 181 7, borrowed 
$200 of Asa Dutton, and gave him a mortgage for the same, on 
her homestead, April 15, 1818. 



Chapter IV. 

Colonel Charles Kathan, 1743-1793 — Helped his Fatlier Subdue the 
Forests of Fulhaui — Built a Dwelling House in Putney Village — 
Kathan's Ferry Established in 1752 — Bought and Sold Much 
Real Estate — IV hat Hall's History of Eastern Vermont Says 
About Charles Kathan — His Family Reeord — Death and Burial 
Place- — Inscription on Monumental Stone — Cemetery Sadly 
Neglected and Desecrated — Complete Destruction of Cemetery in 
1892. 

Charles Kathan was born March 26, 1743, and was the fourth son 
of Captain John Kathan. He probably lived with his father until 
twenty-one years of age and helped him to subdue the forests of 
Fulham on the first settlement made in town. He married Eliza- 
beth (maiden name unknown), about the year 1768. He 
built a house in Putney street and was a resident there in 1768 when 
there were only a few families in the place. The building was on the 
spot where Mrs. McLellan lived in 1825 near Dr. Campbell's. His 
near neighbors were William Wyman/ Captain Ash, John Butler, 
Michael Low, and Dennis Locklin. East of the mouth of Sackett's 
brook, half mile above the home of Captain John Kathan, four 
families lived, viz. : Jonas Moore, Leonard Spaulding, Fairbanks 
Moore, on the Timothy L^nderwood farm, so called, in 1825, and 
Samuel Allen, on the farm of Jonas Keyes, Jr., owner in 1825. At 
that time, 1768, there was no road from the Great Meadows to the 
street, except on the bank of the Connecticut river as far as 
Kathan's ferry, and thence up Clay hill past the site of the old 
Kathan cemetery to the street. The valley through the middle of 
the town was then chiefly a wilderness. In 1768 the 
Honorable Noah Sabin built the first framed house, and in 1825 the 
building was a part of the store of Leavitt & Crawford. Amos 
Haile and James Cummings each built frame houses on the street in 
1768. Not long after, Moses Johnson, who married a sister of 
Alexander Kathan, built the first two-story house on the street, 
about thirty rods north of the meeting house, and it was occupied by 



60 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Elijah Blake in 1825. Kathan's ferry was established between 
Westmoreland, New Hampshire, and the proprietary of Dummers- 
ton in the year 1752, and a similar method of cummunication was 
arranged between the latter place and the town of Chesterfield, 
N. H. The road from Putney street led down Clay hill to the ferry, 
thence southwesterly past the house of Captain Kathan, down 
across the Kathan Meadows near the hillside, over Mill brook and 
up Meadow hill, thence straight across the plains on which Alex- 
ander Kathan lived. On Mill brook was located the first sawmill 
in town, built by Captain Kathan soon after settling in Dummerston. 
Some of the mason work for the foundation of the mill may still be 
seen in Mill brook near the highway as it now runs from Dummers- 
ton to Putney village.* 

October 8, 1771, Charles Kathan, then living in Roxbury, Mass., 
sold real estate to Isaac Baird of Putney, probably a relation of 
Alexander Kathan's wife, who was Margaret Baird. Thomas Baird 
and Thomas Baird, Jr., were witnesses to the deed. September 
12, 1772, Charles Kathan, then of Roxbury, Mass., bought of his 
father, John Kathan, six lots, each fifty acres, with buildings there- 
on, for £160. April 15, 1773, Charles Kathan, then of Putney, sold 
to Darby Ryan, of Leicester, Mass., a part of lot No. 19, for iiio. 
March 17, 1779, he, then living in Roxbury and a "Victtualler" by 
occupation, sold property in Putney, "and all the edifices thereon," 
for £300. He seems to have returned to Putney before 1790. for in 
July of that year he sold property to John Moore. Colonel William 
Sargeant of Dummerston bought of him some land on which to 
erect a fulling mill, January 13, 1791, and John Goodwin of Worces- 
ter, Mass., traded with him for some mill property, "except 
stones and irons," August 24, 1791. 

The following events in the life of Charles Kathan appear in 
Hall's History of Eastern Vermont : "Sargeant McWain, on the 
1 8th of May, 1779, entered a complaint against those who had 
been engaged in the rescue of the cows, and damages were laid at 
1,000 pounds, lawful money. Writs were issued, signed by Ira Al- 
len, for the arrest of forty-four persons, among whom were the 
officers in Brattleborough, Putney, and Westminster who had re- 
ceived commissions from New York charo-ed with 'enemical con- 



*The site of the sawmill is explained on another page. The mason work is of unknown 
origin. 



SECOND GENERATION. 61 

duct' in opposing the authority of the state. Of this number thirty- 
six were taken and confined in jail at Westminster. No return was 
made of the remaining eight." A foot note says these eight not ar- 
rested were "Israel Smith of Brattleboro, Charles Kathan, William 
Perry, Noah Sabin, Jr., and Joseph Lusher of Putney, Joseph Ide, 
Ichabod Ide, Jr., and Wilcox of Westminster." 

From Hall's account of the entry of Ethan Allen into Windham 
county, and especially into the town of Guilford, the following ex- 
tract is made: "Since morning (September 9th, 1782) the 
strength of the Vermonters had considerably augmented by the 
militia of Windham County. Captain [Jason] Duncan of Dum- 
merston eighty-three ; Captain Wheeler of Wilmington forty-six ; 
Lieutenant Moor of Cumberland twenty ; and another officer 
twenty. By these additions from the brigade of Brigadier-General 
Samuel Fletcher who commanded in person, and was supported by 
Colonel Stephen R. Bradley, Lievitenant-Colonel Charles Kathan 
and Adjutant Elkanah Day, the Vermonters were enabled to pres- 
ent a force of four hundred men, ready to act as should best serve 
the purposes and welfare of the state." 

The children of Colonel Charles Kathan and his wife Elizabeth 
were: Levi, born November 12, 1769; Polly, born January 15, 
1771, married, December 18, 1791, Nathaniel Townsend of Putney; 
Nabby, bom December 19, 1773; Lucretia, born November 22, 
1775 ; Charles, born September 20, 1777 ; Norman, born November 
24, 1781 ; Priscilla, born November 21, 1783; Lucinda, born Feb- 
ruary 8, 1785; William, born August 19, 1787; Lucy, born Feb- 
ruary 16, 1793. This family record was copied from the town 
records of Putney. None of these ten children can readily be 
traced at the present day, except Lucinda Kathan, who married Dr. 
Joseph W'are who lived many years in Townshend, Vt., and had a 
family of twelve children, the second of whom. Deacon Joseph 
Bradley Ware of that town, was born in Putney, February 2, 1809. 
He was a prominent business man and represented Townshend in 
the Legislature of Vermont in 1880-81. Colonel Charles Kathan 
died in Putney, May 22, 1793, a little more than three months after 
his youngest child was born. He was buried in that early burial 
place of the first settlers of Dummerston on the high sandy plain 
back from Co necticut river, where a suitable slate gravestone was 
erected to his memory bearing the following inscription : 



62 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

In memory 

Colonel Charles Kathan he 

Died May 22 1793 in 

The 51st year of his age 

Time was I stood where thou doest now 
And vewed the dead as thou dost me 
Ere long thoult lie as low as I 
And others stand and look on thee. 

The location of this old cemetery is in the extreme southeast cor- 
ner of Putney and is the resting place of Captain John Kathan and 
several of his immediate descendants. Quite a number of the earli- 
est settlers in Putney, who lived in that part of the town, were 
buried in the Kathan cemetery. A debt of gratitude was due from 
Putney to the memory of these early settlers who sleep in the old 
burying ground, and yet it has never been paid. She has done 
nothing to cherish the memory of these hardy pioneers who did so 
much to plant the seeds of civilization in that section. Instead of 
erecting a substantial enclosure to protect their bones from insult, 
this venerable spot has been sadly neglected and desecrated. It 
was turned into a cow pasture and many of the headstones were 
overturned and mutilated. A lot was wanted for a building place 
and in making an excavation for a cellar, seven skeletons were 
found and these sacred relics of the forefathers were carted away 
with the earth that was removed. The owner of the land stated 
that when he plowed up a portion of the burying ground for culti- 
vation, his horses frequently stepped into soft places where graves 
had been dug. In 1873 seventeen old gravestones were left stand- 
ing and a few years later they were reduced to nine. On the night 
before the Fourth of July, 1892, several of the degenerate sons of 
Putney people who had so little veneration for the place 
which held the ashes of her earliest settlers, completed 
with the aid of axes and crowbars, the destruction of these 
simple records of early history. In the fall of 1897, a descend- 
ant of Captain John Kathan in the fifth generation, now living 
in Rochester, New York, visited the old burying ground 
and took several photographic views of the surrounding landscape, 
including a view of the ruined cemetery itself. During the early 
autumn of 1899, the writer himself visited this old resting place of 
silent dwellers in order to identify some of the individual graves of 
the Kathans buried there. On seeing the work of vandalism, we 



SECOND GENERATION. 63 

were led to exclaim : "Alas, that the graves of those worthy souls 
should suffer such indignity !" It is true that these tenants pay no 
rent for their lodgings, and shall never know any reckon- 
ing day but the last. The paradises of the dead which are found 
to-day in the suburbs of almost every American city, speak well for 
the taste and refinement of the age ; but beautiful as they may seem, 
there is a coldness around them of which the marble piles that 
adorn them are fitly emblematic. [More acceptable to a chastened 
taste is the country church-yard with its truthfulness and simplicity. 
The humble and unpretending stone, with its simple story simply 
told, conveys to the contemplative mind a pleasanter impression than 
the monument with its length of undeserved eulogy. There is 
quaintness, too, in the old inscriptions, which is more heart-touching 
than the formality and stififness of the epitaphs of modern diction. 
Sometimes, too, there is noticed an original or phonetic way of 
spelling; and again, when poetry is attempted, the noble disdain 
of metre, which is often seen, is sure evidence that Pegasus, the 
winged horse, and by later poets said to belong to the Muses, was 
either lame or driven without bit or bridle. 

"Their names, their years, spelt by the unlettered Muse, 

The place of fame and elegy supply ; 
And many a holy text around she strews, 
That teach the rustic moralist to die." 

In justice to the people of Putney who had some pride in the 
preservation of the old cemetery, it may be said that many years 
ago, before the memory of the oldest inhabitants now living, a fence 
was built around the Kathan burial place. Many of the bodies 
buried therein were taken up and buried in other cemeteries. Some 
of Jerry Ryan's family were taken up and buried in Mt. Pleasant 
cemetery. Richard Kathan's gravestone was removed from the old 
cemetery, and is in the graveyard near the creamery. The removal 
of all the bodies was discussed more or less at dififerent times, but 
the parties could not agree regarding the removal. 



Chapter V. 

JOHN KATHAN, JR. 

1 732- 1 802. 

Second Son of Captain John Kathan — Associated zvith His Father 
in Management of First Settlement — Signed zvith Others 
Memorial Against Nathan JVillard- — JJ'hat Hall's History Says 
About John Kathan and Benjamin Jones — Bought his Father's 
Farm in 1786 — Sold the Same to His Sons David and Prentice 
in 1802 — His Estate Settled by Honorable Phineas White of 
Putney — His Widoiv, Lois Moore Kathan's Contract for Main- 
tenance — Family Record — Abel and Lois Kathan Moore's 
Family Record. 

John Kathan, Jr., was doubtless a resident of Dummerston from 
the time of the first settlement in 1752 to the close of his life in 
1802. He may be called the second permanent settler in town 
from the time of the first settlement. In 1756, he and his father 
with nine other persons, signed a complaint against Nathan Willard 
in command of Fort Dummer that year.* He was an inhabitant of 
the town in 1771 when the first census was taken. According to 
Hall's History of Eastern Vermont, he was a resident in 1779. 
June 17 of that year he and Benjamin Jones, Jr., refused to 
serve in the Vermont militia, when informed by an officer that 
they were required to perform military duty. 

They refused on the ground of being subjects of New York. 
On account of their refusal to pay or serve in the militia, the 
officer took a cow from each and sold one of them at auction and 
retained the other for the use of the state. 

The home of John Kathan, Jr., was doubtless on the parental 
farm, which his father sold him, June 12, 1786, containing 300 
acres "on which I now live." His family record is not registered 
on the town books. The land records give the information that his 
wife's Christian name was Lois. November 12, 1800, he sold ten 



*See Appendix F. 



SECOND GENERATION. 65 

acres of meadow land to his son, Gardner, for $i,ooo, located east 
of the county road next to the Connecticut river. In the spring of 
1802, he sold his homestead farm of 150 acres to his sons, David and 
Prentice Kathan, for $3,000. He died June 3, 1802, aged 70 years. 
His estate was settled by Honorable Phineas White, a prominent 
lawyer living in Putney in those times. David Kathan was not 
living in May, 1809, but was living February i, 1808, when a state 
prison tax of one cent per acre was assessed on the land in Dum- 
merston. John, another son, was living in Williamstown, Vt., 
April 23, 181 1, when he quitclaimed to Phineas White, for $100, his 
interest in the estate of his brother David who died unmarried 
in 1808. The other heirs of David's estate were his mother. 
Widow Lois Kathan, a sister, Lois, wife of Abel Moore, a sister, 
Betsey, wife of Joseph Wilson, and brothers. Prentice and 
Gardner. The Widow Lois (Moore) Kathan, on October 2, 
1802, made a contract with her sons, David and Prentice, to 
take care of her during the remaining years of her life. It was 
recorded and reads as follows : They were ''to keep two cows and 
six sheep for her use, three pairs shoes annually, six bushels each 
of good wheat, rye and corn annually, one hundred and twenty 
pounds of pork, one hundred beef, one bushel salt, thirty pounds 
flax, two barrels cider, garden sauce of every kind. Good horse 
and saddle for her whenever she wishes to ride." 

The family record of John and Lois (Moore) Kathan is nearly 
as follows, judging from the foregoing information and other 
sources: Gardner, born 1767, married Betsey Townshend of Put- 
ney May 24, 1789; John, born July 21, 1769, married Sally Good- 
win, born in Worcester, Mass., May 6, 1775; David, born 1771, 
died unmarried in 1808; Prentice, born December 20, 1774, mar- 
ried Unice ]\Ioore; Betsey, born 1777, married Joseph Wilson, Jan- 
uary 7, 1796; Lois, born 1781, married Abel Moore about 1807, 
whose cliildren were: Mary A., born August 6, 1809; Betsey 
Prentice, born March 11, 181 1 ; Lucy Willard, born December 26, 
1812; John Willard. born September 23, 1814; Abel H., bom Jan- 
uary 30, 1817; Gardner ]M., born ]\Iarch 23, 1819; Dana R., bom 
September 29, 1820. 



66 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

JOHN KATHAN, 

1 769- 1 842. 

Son of John, Jr., oiid Lois (Moore) Ivatlian — Married Sally Good- 
ivin, Daughter of John Goodzvin — Resided Many Years in Wil- 
liamstown, Vt. — Family Record — John Goodzvin of Worcester, 
Mass., Settled in Putney — Family Record of John and Martha 
Moore Goodzvin — Lieutenant Daniel Gates and Lieutenant John 
S. Gates Marry Sisters of Martha Moore — Family Record of 
Paine and Clarissa Kathan Bigelozv — Family Record of William 
Eastzvood and Wife Ellen C. Bigelozv — Biographical Sketches of 
Mr. and Mrs. Paine Bigelozv — The Moore Families of Putney 
and Their Ancestors in Central Massachusetts — The Willards 
Allied by Marriage to the Moorcs and Kathans. 

Family Record of John and Sally Goodwin Kathan. 

James, born in Putney, October 2, 1795, died August 18, 1796; 
John, Jr., born in Dummerston, September 20, 1797, married Har- 
riet Tilden, January 7, 1826, resided in Northfield, Vt. ; Sally, born 
August 20, 1799, married a Snow, resided in Williamstown ; Jane, 
born in Northfield, November 7, 1800. married Benjamin Park- 
hurst Wheeler, resided in Conneant, Pa. ; Hosea, born in Wil- 
liamstown, March 3, 1803, married Betsey (maiden name un- 
known), resided in Williamstown; Orvilla, born October 7, 1805, 
died August 8, 1808; Horace, born February 14, 1808, married 
Melissa (maiden name unknown) ; Eliza, born June 2, 1810, died 
September 14, 1811 ; Alfred, born July 4, 1813, died March 14, 
1814; Fernando, born March 18, 1815, married Mary (maiden 
name unknown), resided in Williamstown; Clarissa, born in Wil- 
liamstown, August 5, 1817, married Paine Bigelow. Her father, 
John Kathan, died January 17, 1842, in Williamstown. Her 
mother died in the same town, October 30, 1849, aged 74 years. 
She was the daughter of John Goodwin of Worcester, Mass., who 
settled in Putney, Vt., before 1790. He bought a gristmill in Put- 
ney, of Colonel Charles Kathan, August 24, 1791. Mr. Goodwin 
married Martha Moore, born July 14, 1752, and daughter of Asa 
and Sarah Hey ward Moore of central Massachusetts. Sarah 
Moore, born August 28, 1748, and sister of Martha, married Lieu- 



SECOND GENERATION. 67 

tenant Daniel Gates of Dummerston. She died March 9, 1829, 
aged 80 years, 6 months, 9 days. Hannah, another sister, born 
June 28, 1750, married Lieutenant John S. Gates, a brother of 
Daniel, also a resident of Dummerston, who settled near the Kathan 
Meadows. She died February 15, 1813, aged 62 years, 7 months, 
18 days. These relatives of John Goodwin's wife account for his 
presence among the early settlers near Captain John Kathan. 

Family Record of John Goodwin. 

John and ^^lartha (Moore) Goodwin were married in Leicester, 
Mass., February 11, 1772, and located in Worcester, a few years be- 
fore settling in Putney. Their children were : Elizabeth, born 
June 30, 1773; Sally, born INlay 5, 1775, married John Kathan; 
Polly, born July 10, 1777, married August 23, 1803, John Gates, 
son of Lieutenant John S. Gates of Dummerston, whose wife was 
Hannah Moore. His brother. Lieutenant Daniel Gates of the same 
town, married Sarah ]vIoore, a sister of Hannah IMoore. Hannah 
Goodwin, the fourth child of John Goodwin, was born August 14, 
1779, married Jotham Lord; Lucy, born May 14, 1785; John, born 
April 6, 1796. 

Clarissa Kathan and Paine Bigelow. 

Their children were born in Rochester, N. Y. Ellen C. Bigelow 
was bom November 26, 1840; Albert P. born November 19, 1842, 
died of cholera, August 15, 1852; Abner P., bom Sept. 28, 1852; 
and Emma L., who was born January 28, 1854, died December 
8, 1855. 

Abner P. Bigelow married Carrie E. Armitage of Rochester, 
November 17, 1873. She died April 15, 1875, leaving an infant 
daughter, Clara Louise, born April 11, 1875. He married second, 
Charlotte Beard, of Bedford, Mass., who was bom February 22, 
1855. Their daughter, Helen Eastwood Bigelow, was born De- 
cember 28, 1880. 

Wn.LiAM Eastwood. 

Mr. Eastwood was born in Liverpool, England, September 14. 
1838, and married Ellen C. Bigelow, November 29, 1859. Their 



68 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

two children were born in Rochester, N. Y. The eldest, Clara B., 
was born December 27, 1862, died September 11, 1864. The 
second child, Albert B., was born October 3, 1867, married Eleanor 
Houghton Motley, of Rochester, October 18, 1892. She was born 
in that city, October 28, 1870. ]\Ir. Eastwood has lived in Roches- 
ter since he was two years of age. Ever since he bought an inter- 
est in the shoe trade, he has done an increasing business each 
year, and at the present time he and his son employ about thirty 
clerks in their large store. Air. and Mrs. Eastwood spend their 
vacations in traveling for rest and pleasure ; have visited all the 
states of the Union but three or four, have been in Alexico, and 
have traveled all over Europe. 

Paine Bigelow, 1816-1867. 

Mr. Bigelow was born February 9, 1816, in Brookfield, Vt. ; mar- 
ried Clarissa Kathan, September 28, 1838, in Williamstown and 
immediately removed to Rochester, X. Y. He was a shoe mer- 
chant by occupation, was successful in business, resided in Roches- 
ter during all his mercantile career, and died of consumption in that 
town, September 20, 1867, after a long illness. His son-in-law, 
William Eastwood, entered into partnership with Mr. Bigelow in 
1859. The mercantile shoe business has been in the family fifty 
years, and is now conducted under the firm name, William East- 
wood & Son. 

Clarissa Katiian Bigelow, 1817-1897. 

Mrs. Bigelow resided in Rochester, X. Y., all her married life. 
She moved to that city soon after she married Paine Bigelow in 
1838. She was possessed of a beautiful character and was beloved 
by all who knew her. Retiring and modest in disposition but with 
strong principles for the right, her influence was felt by all who 
came in contact with her. Her health had been such that for 
many years previous to her death, she spent her winters in Georgia 
and Florida, where the climate was more genial ; and there where 
she loved to go to escape the snows of the X'orth and enjoy the 
sunny days and flowers of the South she passed into the long and 
peaceful slumber of the grave. She died of apoplexy at De Soto 




Clarissa (Kathan) Bigelow, Rochester, N. Y. 



SECOND GENERATION. 69 

Hotel in Savannah, Ga., February i, 1897, aged 79 years, 5 months, 
and 26 days. Her daughter, Ellen C, and her husband, Mr. Wil- 
liam Eastwood, were present with their mother during her last ill- 
ness and brought her remains home to Rochester, where she was 
buried in Mount Hope, February 4, 1897. In memory of a dearly 
beloved mother and a person highly esteemed by all her friends for 
many excellent traits of character, her daughter contributes the 
portrait of her mother for this publication, as a representative of the 
first settler in Dummerston in the line of his son, John Kathan, Jr. 

Mary Kathan, born in 1734, died June 10, 1822, aged 87 years, 
was sister of John Kathan, born in 1732, and married John Sargent 
of Brattleboro, December 16, 1760. Their children were: Eli, 
born in Dummerston, March 5, 1761, when his mother was living 
with her parents during the building of a house for a home with 
her husband in Brattleboro. He married Elizabeth Gorton and 
died in Brattleboro above West river, April 24, 1834, aged 73 
years. The second son, Levi, married Lydia Daily ; Lucy married 
Isaac Bigelow about 1793, and their children were : Lucy, born 
January 4, 1795 ; Polly, born February 8, 1797, and Catharine, born 
June 27, 1799. Abigail, sister of Eli, married Robert Wells. 
Mary, another sister, died unmarried at the parental home. John 
Sargent, the husband of Mary Kathan, built in 1762, a large, two- 
story, gambrel-roof house on the site of the residence of the late 
James H. Sargent of Brattleboro, which became a noted rendezvous 
for the neighborhood, and also for the entertainment of travelers 
and officers of military posts up and down the river. They were 
greatly annoyed by the Indians, and the inhabitants had many dan- 
gers and hair-breadth escapes to relate. 

On the first of March, 1776, John Sargeant was commissioned by 
the Xew York Provincial Congress captain of the Brattleboro com- 
pany in the lower regiment. The militia of Cumberland county 
were subsequently divided by the Legislature of New York into the 
northern and southern regiment, and on the eighteenth of August, 
1778, John Sargeant was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 
soiuhern regiment. Colonel Sargeant was born December 4, 1732, 
and was the first white child born in Vermont.* His father was 
Lieutenant John Sargeant who was killed by the Indians, March 29, 
1748, near Fort Dummer, where his family then resided. The wife 



*Timothy Dwight was born in Fort Dummer, May 27, 1726. See Appendix R. 



70 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

of Lieutenant Sargeant was Abigail Jones of Springfield, Mass. 
They were married July 4, 1727. Colonel Sargeant died in Brattle- 
boro above West river, and was buried in the cemetery near his 
home. His monumental inscription reads : ''Sacred to the memory of 
Colonel John Sargeant who departed this life July 30, 1798, in the 
66th year of his age, who now lies in the same town in which he 
was born, and was the first white man born in the state of Ver- 
mont." 



Chapter VI. 

Genealogy of The Moore Families Allied by Marriage to The 

Kathans. 

From History of JVcsfiiiiiistcr, Mass., page /P4: John^ Moore, 
supposed to be the immigrant ancestor of all the Moores in central 
Massachusetts, was in Cambridge before 1640 and took the oath 
in 1640. His wife was named Elizabeth, and they made a perma- 
nent settlement in Sudbury, Middlesex county, near Concord. 

Ensign John- Moore, born , an early settler and prominent 

citizen of Lancaster; married, November 16, 1654, Anna Smith of 
Sudbury. They had a son John', born 1662, who married Heza- 
diah, daughter of Jonas and Lydia Fairbanks, July i, 1698. The 
Concord records state on page 45, that John Mores and Hassadiah 
Fairbanks, both of Lancaster, were joined in marriage by Justice 
Minot, January i, 1697-8. Lancaster records, page 12, state that 
Hazadiah, daughter of Jonas and Lydia Fairbanks, was born Febru- 
ary 28, 1668. 

Historical and Genealogical Register, i8p8, page yj: John^ 
Moore of Sudbury, 1642; will dated August 25, 1668; allowed April 
7, 1674; wife, Elizabeth. 

History of Westminster, Mass., page /p4: Fairbanks'* Moor (as 
he called himself, although his ancestors spelled the name with 
final e) was the son of John"* and Hezadiah Moore and was born 
about 1700. The date of his birth is not found in Lancaster, where 
he resided many years, and where all his children were bom. He 
married, April 30, 1723, Jiv:lith Bellows, born 1705, and daughter of 
Benjamin and Dorcas (Cutler) Willard Bellows of Lancaster, 
Mass., and ancestor of the Bellows family at Walpole, N. H. Dor- 
cas Cutler married, first, Henry Willard, second, Benjamin Bellows, 
who was the father of Colonel Benjamin Bellows of Walpole, N. H. 
Fairbanks'* Moore resided successively at Marlboro, Lancaster and 
Lunenburg. He was the first actual settler in Narragansett N^o. 2 
(Westminster). He was killed by the Indians in Brattleboro, Vt., 
March 6, 1758. His wife's death is unknown. 

Their children were : John^, boni November 28, 1723. Went to 



72 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Bolton, Conn., in King George's war, 1745; died 1746. Jonas'", 
born October 6, 1725 ; resided in Putney, Vt., 1771. His house was 
sacked by New Hampshire insurgents* Fairbanks^, born July 25, 
1728; married Esther, daughter of Captain John Kathanj.; settled 
in Walpole, N. H., 1752; had two sons born there, Fairbanks, Jr., 
and Benjamin. William^, born January 17, 1730-1 ; no trace found. 
Benjamin'"', born July 30, 1733; married, May 11, 1755, Margaret, 
daughter of Captain John Kathan. He settled in Brattleboro and 
was slain by the Indians, March 6, 1758. PauP, born November 4, 
1736; no trace found. Abner^, born probably at Westminster, 
Mass., 1738 or 1739; died 1742. 

Martha* Aloore, who married Captain John Kathan about 1727, 
was a daughter of John^ and Hezadiah Fairbanks, and was doubt- 
less born in Lancaster, about 1704. She died in Dummerston, Sep- 
tember 22, 1766, aged about 62 years. 

Lancaster Records, page 18: John'* IMoore, son of John^, mar- 
ried Susannah Willard, March 19, 1723-4. Both of Lancaster. On 
page 20, it is recorded that Ensign John- Moor of Lancaster had 
his inventory taken. It is dated September 23, 1702. On same 
page : John- Moore, Senior, nuncupative will proved, November 
26, 1703. On page 61 it is recorded that John^ Moor, son of John'* 
and Susanna, was born January 3, 1730-31. 

Lunenburg Records, page 2^4: Intention of marriage between 
John^ Moors, Jun. of Bolton, and Unity Willard of Lunenburg 
entered July 13, 1757. Page 205 : IMarried, August 30, 1757. 
Page 337 : Unity and Amity Willard, daughters of Jonathan Wil- 
lard and Keziah his wife, born at Lunenburg, October 31, 1737. 

Lancaster Records, page 11: John- Moor and Ann Smith, mar- 
ried 1654, had a son, John^, born at Lancaster, February 7, 1662. 
A second son, Jonathan^, was born* at Lancaster, May 19, 

1669. Page 15: John", born , married Mary Whitcomb, 

August 23, 1683. Both of Lancaster. John- Moor, who married 
Ann Smith, was son of John^ and Elizabeth of Sudbury. 

Worcester Society of Antiquity, J'olunie i: Jacob- Moore, 
born in Sudbury, April 28, 1645, married. May 29, 
1667, Elizabeth Loker; died February 17, 1690. He was son of 
John^ and Elizabeth of Sudbury and brother of John- of Lancaster. 

*See Appendix G. 
tSee Appendix H. 



GENEALOGY OF MOORE FAMILIES. 73 

Jacob- Aloore of Sudbury bad a son NathanieP born in Sudbury, 
January 21, 1678; died November 25, 1761, aged 84. He came 
from Sudbury to Worcester and was the third settler in the town, 
arriving in 1715 or 1716. He was deacon of the first church until 
his death; selectman eleven years between 1722- 1746; town treas- 
urer 1725-1731. He married Grace Rice, sister of Jonas Rice, the 
first settler of Worcester. She died in 1768, aged 94. NathanieP 
Aloore had a brother Richard^ who was bom September 12, 1671 ; 
married Mary Collins of Middletown, Conn., who was born June 16, 
1672, and died July 12, 1760. Richard^ who was called Captain, 
died November 19, 1767. Lunenburg Records, page 234, has the 
following record: "Purpose of marriage betwixt William* Moors 
of Lunenburg and Elizabeth Foster of Dorchester, Canada, so call- 
ed, entered December 10, 1751." Their daughter Elizabeth was 
born at Dorchester, December 27, 1752. 

Worcester Society of Antiquity, page 144, Volume i: "William*' 
Moore died June 5, 1833, aged 68. He was born February 19, 
1765, son of Asa^ and grandson of James* Moore." In one burial 
ground among the burials printed in Volume V., are found the 
following: "Asa Moore died June 30, 1800, aged 80. Selectman, 
1757, 1762." "Mrs. Sarah Moore, daughter of Deacon Daniel Hey- 
ward and Hannah his wife, and wife of Mr. Asa Moore, born Feb- 
ruary I, 1722, died December 13, 1760." "James^ son of James* 
and Comfort, born June 20, 1741. Mrs. Comfort, wife of Captain 
James, died June 22, 1765, in 63d year." "Captain James* died Sep- 
tember 29, 1756, aged 63. Selectman 1732-36-39-41." 

Middlesex Deeds, Cambridge, Mass. Folio 18, Page 138. Jacob^ 
MooRE TO James* Moore, August 28, 1716. 

Extract From Deed: 

"For several good causes hereunto moving but especially that 
parental love and affection I have and do bear my well beloved son 
James Moor of South Sudbury, blacksmith." Then follows a gift 
of land in Sudbury, or easterly side of Sudbury river, "at the lower 
end of my homestead." James Moore of Sudbury, husband of 
Comfort, sold land in Sudbury, January 7, 1 721, to J. Brewer. 

James Aloore, gentleman, Palmer Goulding, gentleman, and Abi- 



74 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

gail his wife, of Worcester, Elizabeth Rice, singlewoman, Samuel 
Knight, clothier, and Mary his wife, Daniel Goodnow, husbandman, 
and Sarah his wife, all of Sudbury, in consideration of £150 
paid by Edward Grout, deed land in Sudbury, May 20, 1734. 

Jacob^ Moore, born 1668, was son of Jacob- and Elizabeth Loker 
Moore, and brother of Nathaniel" and Richard^. 

James^* Moore was married in Sudbury, March 4, 17 18, by Hope- 
still Brown, Justice of the Peace, to Comfort, daughter of John and 
Elizabeth (Clapp) Rice. She was born August 10, 1701. Her 
father and mother were married May 13, 1700. The children of 
James and Comfort Moore were : Asa^, born in Sudbury, October 
22, 1 7 19. The following children were born in Worcester, where 
the parents settled : Ruben^, November 8, 1721 ; Increase^, Febru- 
ary 14, 1723; Azubah^, March 22, 1725-6; Silus^, March 22, 1727-8, 
died June i, 1729; PauP, November 22, 1729-30; Silus^, January 
24, 1731-32, died of smallpox June 10, 1777; Elizabeth^, May 17, 
1734; Sarah^, about 1736, died June 3, 1765 ; James^, June 20, 1741. 

Note. — To find the parentage of Captain James* Moore was a 
very difficult genealogical problem. It was too much for the Public 
Library of Lynn, Mass. The solution was then sought in the 
Genealogical Library in Boston. Diligent search failed to find it 
there. Then the Middlesex Deeds at Cambridge, Mass., were 
examined and clearly revealed the parentage of Captain James 
Moore. That he was son of Jacob^ is not given as such in the 
Genealogical Register.* 

Asa^' Moore, born in Sudbury, October 19, 1719, and son of Cap- 
tain James and Comfort Moore, married Sarah Heywood, daughter 
of Deacon Daniel and Hannah Heywood. Their children were : 
i\sa^ born March 10, 1744; John", May 3, 1746; Sarah*^, August 28, 
1748; Hannah, June 28, 1750; Martha", July 14, 1752-; Thaddeus", 
September 15, 1754; Betty", February 18, 1757; Daniel", May 19,' 
1759. Sarah, wife of Asa° Moore, died December 13, 1760, and he 
married, second, Mary Cook, April 12, 1764. Their son William", 
was born February 19, 1765. 

History of Oxford, Mass: Jacob" and Elizabeth Loker Moore 
settled in Worcester. Their son Richard^, born September 12, 
1671, married Mary, daughter of Samuel and Mary Collins of Mid- 



*Letter of Harriet L. Matthews, assistant librarian, Lynn Public Library. 



GENEALOGY OF MOORE FAMILIES. 75 

dletown, Conn. She was grandclautihter of Deacon Edward of 
Cambridge and was born June 6, 1672. He died November 19, 
1767, aged 96. She died July 12, 1760. Children: Sybilla*, born 
September 2, 1694, married Ebenezer Chamberlain ; Abigail*, May 
23, 1696; Collins^ October 7, 1698; Isaac*, June 11, 1700, settled at 
Worcester; Elijah*, March 14, 1702; Susanna*, December 26, 1704; 
Abijah*, December 22, 1705; Richard*, JanuaiT 10, 1708; Mary*, 
May 15, 1 7 10. 

Collins*, son of RicharcP, weaver, married May 2, 1722, Bath- 
sheba, daughter of Nathaniel Wood of Groton. He resided at 
W^orcester on a farm of 100 acres on Tatnuck Hill, which he sold in 
1730, and removed to Oxford. He died before February 22, 1743. 
She married, second, Samuel Town, third, Joseph Phillips. Chil- 
dren : Abigail^, born February 17, 1723. married Abial Lamb; 
Levi% December 17, 1724, died August 2, 1745; Nathan^, April 15, 
1726; Elijah^, August 10, 1727; Susanna^, January 25, 1729, mar- 
ried Silas Robinson of Dudley; Mary^, September 25, 1730, married 
Daniel Fairfield; Bathsheba^, February 10, 1732, married Benjamin 
Wilson of Townsend; Alice^, December 26, 1733, married Jonathan 
Ballad; Jerusha^ April 5, 1735, married John Nichols; Richard^, 
October 14, 1736, soldier in French war, married August 19, 1761, 
Mary Eddy, resided at Ervingshire ; Phebe-\ September 3, 1738, 
married Ebenezer Locke. 

Elijah*, son of Richard", married July 19, 1733, Dorothy, daugh- 
ter of Ebenezer Larnard. He died November, 1781. She died 
December 4, 1787. Children: Martha^, born February 9, 1735, 
married Ephraim Ballard; Lucy^, July 25, 1737; Jonathan"', July 7, 
1739; Abigail^, May 7, 1741, married Jeremiah Shumway ; Collins^, 
April 17, 1743; Elijah', May 5, 1745; Dorothy', April 12, 1747, 
married Dr. Stephen Barton; Sarah', April 26, 1749, married her 
cousin, Reuben Davis of Charlton; Ebenezer', September, 1751; 
Deborah', July 27, 1753, married Levi Davis, brother of Reuben 
Davis. The descendants of Elijah and Dorothy Moore were num- 
erous, and many of them of more than ordinary ability. 

Richard*, son of Richard^ married, June 18, 1741, Mary, daughter 
of Ebenezer Larnard. He died December 3, 1782. Mary, his wife, 
died September 7, 1792. Children : Samuel', born and died 1742; 
Samuel', May 18, 1744, married, December 16, 1762, Zerviah 
Leavens, and had Joseph'^, born February 16, 1763, Abijah*', Sep- 



76 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

tfember 17, 1764; Marvin'', April 12, 1746; Ruth^, March 12, 1750, 
married April 11, 1774, Salem Towne of Charlton; William^, June 
16, 1752; Nehemiah^, March 30, 1754; Mary^, February 17, 1756; 
John^ June 28, 1758; Edward% May 18, 1760; Richard^, June 29, 
1762; Rufus^, May 30, 1764; Ebenezer^, March 25, 1767. 

Isaac^, son of Richard", married Hannah Newhall of Leicester, 
1723, who was born January 29, 1706, fifth in descent from Thomas 
Newhall of Lynn, and fourth from the first white child born in 
Lynn. Children: Hannah^, born 1725; Thomas^, David^, Jona- 
than^, SamueP, and Pheby^ John'"', born 1738; Mary^ 
Sarah^, and Susanna^. 

• Abijah*, son of Richard^, graduated 1726 from Yale College. 
"So far as known the only resident of Central Massachusetts to re- 
ceive a degree under the first charter." He was a physician at Mid- 
dletown ; married October 9, 1729, his cousin Anna, daughter of 
William Ward of Middletown. She died November 29, 1755, and 
he married, second, March 9, 1756, Mrs. Abigail Goodwin, who died 
July 18, 1774, aged 63. He died of smallpox at Middletown, 
December 18, 1759. His children, born at Middletown, were : 
Marcy^, born March 29, 1731 ; Reynold Marvin^, July 7, 1732; 
*William^ December 10, 1733; Abijah^ March 11, 1735; AbigaiP, 
August 5, 1736; Martha^, July 18, 1738, died 1740; Anna"^ and 
Martha^ April 27, 1740; Ruth^, January i, 1742; SamueP, Septem- 
ber 2, 1743; SibyP, September 5, 1747; Sarah^ Septeinber 9, 1749. 

Worcester County Warnings, page 7. Bolton: Captain Abijah^ 
Moore and wife Etmice from Princeton, had the following children 
recorded in Bolton : William", Rufus", Bathsheba'', Tamar*', 
Abijah", Gideon", Eunice", and Jephah", born May 11, 1766. Order 
of names uncertain. These parents and their children settled in 
Putney, March 6, 1769, in what was afterwards called the Moore 
neighborhood near the home of Captain John Kathan. William 
died 181 5; Rufus died 1838; Bathsheba, no record; Tamar married 
Elisha Hubbard of Putney about 1773; Abijah died 1852, aged 94; 
Gideon died 1837, aged yy; Eunice, no record; Jephtha [Jephah], 
born May 11, 1766. Abijah^, the father of these children, and 
David Moore^, his cousin and son of Isaac*, were captains in the 
Revolution, and seven of their sons and sons-in-law were engaged 
in that war. Samuel'^, born September 2, 1743, a Revolutionary 



*S ee Appendix P. 



GENEALOGY OF MOORE FAMILIES. 77 

pensioner, served in the Massachusetts Continental hne, died 
August I, 1829, aged 86 nearly. He was placed on the pension 
rolls of Vermont, August 7, 1818. Rufus Moore, born 1745, 
Rufus Moore, bom 1749, were also Windham county pensioners. 
Willard Moore and Newell ]\Ioore were residents of Putney before 
1790. Newell died in 1855, aged 88. Polly, his wife, died in 1869, 
aged 82. They had a son, Archibald Allen Moore, who was 
drowned in Sacketts brook June 8, 1802, and was buried in the old 
Kathan cemetery. His inscription lines read as follows : 

My body late was hale, 

My blooming cheeks were red, 
But now alas are pale, 

And numbered ^\^th the dead. 
I little thought of death, 

Until the victor came, 
Alas he closed my breath 

And spoiled my youthful frame 

Note. — Peter Stickney of Dummerston, born April 7, 1761, enlist- 
ed April I, 1778, in Colonel Jonathan Reed's Regiment, Captain 
Isaac Wood's Company, and afterwards in Captain David Moore's 
Company, August 3, 1780, to reinforce the Continental army in 
Rhode Island. [Mass. Archives.] 

Early Marriages of Moores in Putney*. 

December 11, 1776, William ]vIoore and Martha Graham. 
June 9, 1782, William Moore and Lydia Shipley. 
August 19, 1782, Gideon Moore and Arvilla Hubbent [Hubbard]. 
November o.'j, 1782, Hezekiah Moore and Hannah Franklin. 
December i, 1782, John Wallis and Olive Moor. 
January 23, 1785, Caleb Moore and Katherine Willard. 
July 31, 1785, John Moore, Jun., and Susanna Underwood. 
September 7, 1786, Abijah Moore 3d and Rebecca McWain. 
April 7, 1787, Abijah Moore and Susanna Hubbeant of Keene. 
April 7, 1787. Paul Aloore and Eunice Townsend. 
January 7, 1788, George Metcalf and Lucinda Moore. 
November 9, 1787, Sewell Moore and Mehitabel Dodge. 
January 19, 1789. William Poole and Lois Aloore. 
October 2-}^, 1783, Eli Powers and Thankful ^loorc. 



78 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

March 23, 1793, Jephthah j\Ioore and Zilpha Jewett. 

April 2, 1797, Rtifus Moore and Betsey jMoore. 

Rufns and Betsey Moore had daughter Martha, horn February 6, 
1799. 

Gideon and Arvilla Moore had Unity, born February 28, 1783; 
Holland, born August 10, 1785 ; Pedee [Bedee], born December 27, 
1787, died young; Luary, born September 15, 1789; Calvin, born 
December 29, 1796; Russell, born November 17, 1798. 

Elisha Hubbard married Tamar Moore, daughter of Abijah and 
Eunice Moore of Putney. Children : Abigail, born September 19, 
1774; Eunice, July 18, 1776; Susanna, January 17, 1778; Elisha, 
February 17, 1780; Tamar, September 21, 1781 ; Dolly, July 7, 
1783; Abel, February 18, 1785; Otis, September 2, 1786; Anna, 
April 24, 1788; Peter, September 13, 1789; Sally, August 2, 1792; 
Delana, February i, 1795; Betsey, June 24, 1797; Abijah, February 
4, 1799; George, October 5, 1802. Moved from Putney to Roches- 
ter, Vt. John Goodwin and wife, Martha Moore, had children as 
recorded on Putney records: Elizabeth, born June 30, 1773, 
married Eleazer Goodwin, February 6, 1791 ; Sarah, born May 5, 
1775, married John Kathan ; Polly, born July 10, 1777, married 
John Gates ; Hannah, born August 14, 1779, married John Black, 
Jr., of Putney; Lucy, born May 14, 1785 ; John, born April 6, 1796. 

One Matthew Goodwin married April 7, 1799, Elizabeth Powers, 
both of Putney. 

Prentice Willard and wife Mind well had a son Prentice, born 
October 16, 1790. The father died in 1796 and a lone monument 
marks his burial place in the central part of Putney Great Meadows. 

Dr. Jonathan Moore of Putney married Rebecca Stevens in 1799 
and removed to Dummerston, where he bought a homestead with a 
few acres of land just south of the Asa Knight place. His parents 
were John^ Moore of Bolton, who married, August 30, 1757, Unity 
Willard of Lunenburg, INIass. She and Amity Willard were twins 
and were born at Lunenburg October 31, 1737, and were daughters 
of Jonathan and Keziah Willard. Jonathan" Moore was born about 
1770. He had a sister Susan", born about 1772, died in Putney in 
1851, aged 78; also a brother, PauP Moore. Dr. Moore's wife was 
from Plainfield, Conn., and was a daughter of Nehemiah and Hep- 
zibah (Kellum) Stevens. Her father w^as a Revolutionary soldier 
and died in 1781. His daughter, Esther Stevens, born in January, 



GENEALOGY OF MOORE FAMILIES. 79 

1777, married Hon. Phineas ^^ll^te of Putney, July 5, 1801, died 
September 25, 1858, aged 81. Judge White, her husband, died July 
6, 1847, aged 76. His daughter, Frances M. White, married Law- 
yer John Kimball of Putney, who graduated from Dartmouth Col- 
lege in 1822. Hepzibah Kellum Stevens, the mother of Judge 
White's wife, was a daughter of Abigail Kimball of England. 

The children of Dr. Jonathan and Rebecca (Stevens) Moore 
were: Esther, born in Putney, July 4, 1798, married first. Rev. 
Luke Whitcomb, who died at Savannah, Georgia, leaving his young 
wife with a little daughter named Rebecca. She married, second. 
Rev. Moses Chase of Plattsburg, N. Y., and afterwards moved to a 
small village called IMoore's Corner, N. Y. John Stevens Moore 
was born in Dummerston, March 24, 1800 ; Rebecca, born April 29, 
1802, married a Seymour; Sophia Willard, born January 26, 1804, 
died September 24, 1804; Sophia Willard second, born August 22, 
1805, married, in 1836, Elijah Edmund Hayward, formerly of 
Bridgewater, but at that time living in Hadley, Mass. Pie died in 
1878, and his widow in 1883. The wife of Dr. Moore died in 
Dummerston and her mother, Mrs. Hepzibah Stevens, who was 
living here at the time, .went to Putney to live with her daughter, 
Mrs. John Kimball, who was }'ounger than Mrs. Moore. Mrs. 
Stevens died in Putney aged 66 years and was buried in the Kim- 
ball lot at the head of the row of graves. 

Mrs. Abby L. Williams, a daughter of Judge White of Putney, 
was a resident of Trinidad, Colorado, in February, 1899, and Mrs. 
Esther Playward Warner, a granddaughter of Dr. Jonathan Moore, 
resides in Florence, Mass. Dr. Moore was noted in the early part 
of the last century for his "Essence of Life," which he made by the 
barrel. His garden was mainly devoted to the growth of poppies, 
which formed one of the ingredients of his celebrated medicine. 

Lancaster Records, page 124: John" Moore, son of John* and 
Susanna (Willard) Moore, married Anna Gates, March 4, 1767. 
Children: John", born December 26, 1767; SamueP, July 5, 1769; 
James'', September 18, 1771, at Sterling; ThoInas^ July 15, 1774. 
at Sterling; William", August 17, 1778, died February 26, 
1818; Nancy^ August 26, 1782; ArchibakP and Artemas*', April 
30, 1786, at Worcester, or July 2, 1786, Worcester Records ; Henry^ 
November 11, 1790, at Sudbury, killed in battle with British and 
Lidians at Brownstown, August 3, 1812. 



80 history of kathan family. 

Massachusetts Marriages. 

Page 40. Jonas Moore and Dinah Whitcomb, January 11, 1764. 
Page 3. Jonah Moore of Worcester and Elizabeth Bemis of 
Spencer, July 10, 1755. Bolton, page 42. Abel Moor and Mrs. 
Betty Whitcomb, January 11, 1764. Lunenburg, page 35. John 
Moors, Jr., of Bolton and Unity Willard, August 30, 1757. Rut- 
land, page 22. Phineas Moore and Anna Rice, June 14, 1753. 
Bolton, page 43. Phineas Moor and Sarah Nurss [Nurse] 
November 27, 1770. Shrewsbury, page 80. Isaac Moor of Bolton 
and Mary Bigelow, June 2, 1768. Bolton, page 40. Samuel Moor 
and Zeresh Houghton, August 19, 1747. Samuel and Zeresli Moore 
were the parents of Rufus Moore, born August 28, 1760. He mar- 
ried Rachel Moore, his cousin ; settled on Dummerston West Hill 
at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Their children were: 
Martin, born February 11, 1804; Abel, born January 24, 1806; 
Emily, born January 26, 1808. Martin married Dolly Dean and 
had Martin H., Rufus A., Laura, and George D. Moore, now of 
Arlington, Mass., and president of The Arlington Cdoperative 
Bank. Rufus Moor died December 5, 1836. Rachel, his wife, died 
April 2, 1855, aged 88 years. They were buried on Dummerston 
Hill but no memorial tablets mark their graves. 

Massachusetts Marriages. Page 5: Jonathan Moore and Sarah 
Gates of Worcester, February 27, 1754. Page 6, David Moor of 
Leicester and Eleanor Rice of Worcester, October 11, 1745. Page 
7, John Moore and Esther Bigelow, both of Worcester, September 

11, 1760. Page 8, Silas Moore and Mary Jennison, February 4, 
1761. Page 9, Asa Moore and Mary Cook of Worcester, April 

12, 1764. Page 10, John Moore and Persis Gates, August 18, 1768. 
Page 13, Sarah Moore of Worcester and Daniel Gates of Fullam 
[Dummerston], November 13, 1775. 

John Moore, the immigrant ancestor of the Moores in central 
Massachusetts, was in Sudbury in 1642 ; took the oath of fidelity at 
Sudbury, July 9, 1645. He subscribed to the Covenant of Lancas- 
ter, January 11, 1653, and 40 acres of land were laid out in his 
name in the first grant, September 30, 1653. He was a prominent 
citizen and a prosperous farmer. His will was dated August 25, 
1668, was allowed April 7, 1674. In it he mentions his wife Eliza- 



GENEALOGY OF MOORE FAMILIES. gX 

beth, sons John, William, Jacob, Joseph and Benjamin; daughters 
Elizabeth, Mary, and Lydia. His signature was John More. 

Pope's Pioneers of Massachusetts states that John^ Moore of Sud- 
bury married Elizabeth, daughter of Philemon Whale of Sudbury, 
a weaver who was made freeman May lo, 1648. His wife died 20th 
of 4th month 1647, when he married, second, Sarah, widow of 
Thomas Cakebread. She died December, 165—, and he married, 
third, Elizabeth (Griffin, says Savage) who died November 8. 1688' 
Philemon died February 20, 1675 (Pope), February 22, 1676 
(Savage), leaving property to William-, Jacob-, Joseph^, and Ben- 
jamin-, children of his daughter, Elizabeth Moore, wife of John^ 
Moore. 

Sudbury Records. 

Benjamin^ married Dorothy Wright, November 11, 1686. Chil- 
dren: Dorothys born September 18, 1687; Hezekiah^ September 
13, 1696; Comfort^, January 8, 1703; Prudence^ July 22, 1704. 
Joseph^, and Lydia L'loore had children : Joseph^, born August i, 
1671 ; Hannah^, January 2, 1674; Thomas% December 9, 1676'; Ben- 
jamin^ May 5, 1679; Mary^ May 7, 1681 ; John^ May 8, '1683; 
Lydia^^ January 5, 1684; Elizabeth^ September 28, 1685. 

William Moore married Tamar Rice, January 21, 1716; had 
quite a large family born in Sudbury and then moved to Rutland. 

Mary ^loor married Math Gibs, November 12, 1678. 

Elizabeth Moor married Henry Rice, December 27, 1716. 

Asa Moore and Persis Knight married in Sudbury, November 8 
1734- 

AHDDLESEX COURT RECORDS. 

Copied and in Genealogical Library. 
Sudbury'. 

Uriah Moore and Abigail Haynes, married October 5, 1721. 
Elias Moore and Susannah Tomson, married Julv 9, 1724. 
Edward Moore and Keziah Goodenow, married February 19, 
1722-23, by Hopestill Brown, Esq. 
Eliab Moor and Keziah Stone, married ]\Lirch 5, 1727-8. 
Zebiah Moor and Benjamin How, married June 4. 1728. 



82 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Hezekiah Moor and Mary Haynes, married June 27, 1728. 

Jacob Moor and Rebecca Robins, married November 4, 1729. 

Thankful Moore and Joseph Johnson, both of Marlboro, married 
at Sudbury, November 11, 1735. Ephraim Moore and Dorothy 
Britnal, married May 11, 1736. They settled at Rutland, Mass. 

Mary Moore and David Stone, married May 24, 1743. 

Peter Moore and ]\Iary Goodenow, married June 10, 1719, by Mr. 
Israel Loring. 

The Willard Proprietors of Real Estate in Putney, Dum- 
MERSTON, Westminster, and Chesterfield, N. H. 

Several of the Moore families, allied by marriage to the Kathan 
families, who were early settlers in town, married into the Willard 
family. The first deed of land registered on the land records of 
Dummerston was in 1754 and was granted to Colonel Josiah 
Willard, who was commander of Fort Dummer from 1740 to 1750, 
for 1,600 acres of land purchased of the original proprietors. 
Twelve persons by the name of Willard were proprietors of land in 
Westminster on the eleventh oi June, 1760, when the time for ful- 
filling the charter was extended. The same number of Willards 
were landed proprietors in Chesterfield, N. H., also John Moore, 
who married Unity Willard, August 30, 1757, a daughter of Jona- 
than Willard of Lunenburg, Mass. John and Unity Willard Moore 
were the parents of Dr. Jonathan Moore of Dummerston. John 
Moore was son of John and Susanna (Willard) Moore, who were 
married in Lancaster, Mass., March 19, 1723-4. 

Prentice Kathan, son of John and Lois (Moore) Kathan, was 
named after some relative on his mother's side named Prentice Wil- 
lard, either the proprietor of land in Westminster, or Prentice Wil- 
lard of a younger generation, who died in Putney, March 25, 1796, 
aged 47 years, and to whose memory a lone monument was erected 
and now stands near the central part of the Great Meadows in Put- 
ney, at one time owned by Colonel Josiah Willard, to whom, with 
others, the township of Putney was chartered, December 26, 1753. 
Possibly Unity Moore, the wife of Prentice Kathan, was the daugh- 
ter of John and Unity Willard Moore, instead of Abijah and Eunice 
Moore, as suggested on another page. Her name is inscribed on a 
monument in Westmoreland, with that of her husband. Prentice 



'*l>^ 



'€a *« 




Thomas Alexander Kathan, Father of Reid A. Kathan. 



1 



GENEALOGY OF MOORE FAMILIES. 83 

Kathan, as Unity Kathan. Fairbanks Moor, a brother of Captain 
John Kathan's wife, Martha Moore, married Judith Bellows, whose 
mother, Mrs. Dorcas Cutler Willard, married Benjamin Bellows, 
father of Colonel Benjamin Bellows of Walpole, N. H. 

The Kathan and the IMoore Families Allied by Marriage. 
Lines of Ancestry". 

Captain John Kathan married about. 1727 ]Martha Moore, sister 
of Captain Fairbanks Moor, whose parents were John^ and Hassa- 
diah (Fairbanks) Moore. John^ was the son of John-, who married 
Anna Smith of Sudbury ; and John- was son of John^ IN'Ioore, the 
immigrant ancestor, who married Elizabeth Whale. John Kathan, 
Jr., son of Captain John, married Lois r\Ioore of Bolton, Mass., 
September 11, 1766. She was doubtless a daughter of some one 
of the Abijah^ Moore families in Bolton, descending from Abijah*, 
Richard^, Jacob-, John\ John Junior's daughter, Lois Kathan. 
married Abel Moore, whose parents were, probably, Abel and Mrs. 
Betty (Whitcomb) Moore of Bolton, married January ii, 1764. 
Prentice Kathan married Unice Moore about 1802, whose parents 
were, doubtless, John and Unity (Willard) Moore. His brother, 
John Kathan, m.arried Sally Goodwin, daughter of Martha" Moore, 
the wife of John Goodwin. Alartha'' I^Ioore was born July 14, 1752, 
and her parents were, Asa^ and Sarah Heywood ]\Ioore. Asa^ 
Moore was born in Sudbury, October 11, 1719, and was son of 
Captain James* and Comfort (Rice) Moore. 

Captain James* Moore's line of descent is Jacob", Jacob", John\ 
iNIartha'' Moore and John Goodwin, her husband, were the par- 
ents of Sally Goodwin, wife of John Kathan, son of John, Junior, 
and grandson of Captain Jolm Kathan. John and Sally Goodwin 
were the parents of Clarissa Kathan, who married Paine Bigelow, 
and whose daughter, Ellen C. Bigelow, married William Eastwood 
of Rochester, New York. ]\Irs. Eastwood is greatly interested in 
tracing her line of ancestry, not only on the Kathan side, but also 
on the side of the Moores, of whom she is a descendant in the ninth 
generation. 



Chapter VII. 

Daniel Kathan^ Second^ 1760- 1804. 

He was son of Alexander Kathan, Esq., and was born in Worces- 
ter, Mass., October 15. 1760. His father bought him a farm in the 
south part of the town in 1784. He married Ohve Lamb of Put- 
ney, August 26, 1787, and removed to his farm, which he occupied 
several years. He was not a man of robust health and, judging 
from his father's will, had much sickness in his family. He died in 
the prime of life, September 4, 1804, aged 44 years. His wife had 
died the previous year, January 25, 1803, in the 32d year of her 
age. They left a family of seven small children who were cared 
for by their grandfather, Alexander, until a home could be provided 
for them elsewhere. Thomas, the eldest, was born November 25, 
1788, married Sarah Dolph in Brattleboro, Vt., and removed to 
New Lebanon in Columbia County, N. Y., some thirty miles south- 
east from Albany. Lucy, born May 9, 1790, and Caty, born De- 
cember 22, 1 79 1, probably died young, as no trace of them has been 
found. Anna, born February 7, 1795, married Alpheus Pratt of 
Brattleboro, May 21, 1812. Emory was born May 23, 1797; Wy- 
man Lam.b, December 9, 1798; and Orison, July 31, 1801. Olive 
Lamb, the mother of these children, was evidently a sister of Lieu- 
tenant James Lamb, an early settler in Newfane, from the fact that 
her son, Emory Kathan, after his father's death in 1804, when the 
child was seven years old, went to live with an uncle living in 
Newfane. Lieutenant James Lamb came from Spencer, Mass., to 
Newfane. His parents were John and Abigail (Smith) Lamb of 
Spencer, whose children born in that tovv^n, were : James, born 
April 14, 1753; John, March 22, 1755; Abigail, July 20, 1757; 
Nathaniel, March 22, 1760; Mary, July 6, 1762; Isaac, December 
30, 1764. These are all the names given in the History of Spencer. 
Several other children were doubtless born to these parents, as the 
father was only 37 years old when his son Isaac was born and the 
mother 31 years old. John Lamb and Abigail Smith were married 
April 21, 1752. He died January 13, 1796, aged 69. She died 
May 7, 1799, aged 66. Their daughter, Olive Lamb, was born in 



THIRD GENERATION. 85 

1772, and Fletcher Lamb of Putney was doubtless an elder brother. 
He was the father of Russell Lamb, who died October lo, 1881, 
aged 82 years. 

John Lamb of Spencer was son of Jonathan, Sr., and was 
born March 5, 1727. Jonathan was said to be a descendant of 
Colonel Joshua Lamb, one of the proprietors of Leicester and 
Spencer. Lieutenant James Lamb of Newfane had a son, Charles, 
born about 1783, and who died April 26, 1813, aged 30. He was 
the father of George W., born June 20, 1809, and Charles Pinkney, 
born July 21, 181 1, and their mother was Ruth Stearns, a sister of 
John Foster Stearns of Dummerston, who after the death of 
Charles Lamb, her husband, married Moses Sabin of Newfane. 
Silas Lamb, brother of Charles, married first Sally Laughton, 
daughter of Jacob Laughton of Dummerston. She died November 
29, 183 1, aged 51 years. He married, second, Laura Keyes of 
Putney, November 11, 1832. Her name is registered on the town 
records of Putney as Sally Keyes. The children of Silas and Sally 
(Laughton) Lamb were: Charlotte, born November 2, 1805; 
Artemas, September i, 1807; Edwin, May 24, 1810; Horace, 
November 30, 1811; Maria, December 6, 18x5; Larkin, December 
18, 1817; Dana, September 12, 1820; Emory Spencer, March 11, 
1824; Betsey Laughton, September 16, 1826. 

Lieutenant James Lamb married first, Charlotte Howard ; sec- 
ond, Lydia (Cushing) Stearns. He died in Newfane, January 11, 
1836, aged 82 years. 

Emory Kathan, 1797- 1849. 

Was seven years old when he went to Newfane to live with his 
uncle, James Lamb. After a residence there of several years, he 
married Mary Hall of Townshend, Vt., and removed to that town, 
in which he died May 10, 1849. His widow was living in 1883 at 
the age of 83 years. They had two sons, Lucius H., who died 
about 1885, and Theodore E., who died at the age of 28 years. 
^Ir. Kathan's brother. Orison, married and removed to Ohio. 
After a lapse of twenty-five years, he came to Vermont and made 
his brother Emory a short visit. He returned to his western home 
and no further tidins:s were ever received from him. 



86 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Mr. Kathan lived in Harmonyville, a small village located in the 
southern part of Townshend, which has a gristmill, chair-stock fac- 
tory, and about fifteen dwellings. Its name was derived through 
somewhat ridiculous circumstances, as follows : About 1828 or 1830, 
the little village was at the zenith of its glory. William R. Shafter 
was in trade where B. D. Pratt's dwelling now, 1883, stands, having 
succeeded Emory Kathan, who erected the building, and Jacob 
Fish carried on a custom saw, grist and flouring-mill, while the lit- 
tle settlement throughout had a general air of sprightliness and 
progress. Townshend village, only a half-mile distant being some- 
what tinged with jealousy, dubbed the little village "Tin Pot." 
The imputation suggested by this title the aggressive hamlet could 
not brook, so it retaliated by naming Townshend village "Flybug," 
and called a council of war, at which it was decided to give their 
own village a name worthy of its merits. Accordingly, after much 
debate, Harmonyville was decided upon as the proper appellation. 
Emory Kathan painted two signs bearing this legend, nailing one to 
each end of the bridge that crossed the West river. They were 
soon pulled down by youths from the rival village, however, though 
not until the name had become established, which has always clung 
to the place. 

Wyman Lamb Kathan, 1798- 1832. 

Married July 31, 1825, Laura Burnham, sister of Rhoda, who 
married John Kathan, and daughter of Roswell Burnham of West- 
moreland, N. H. Their children were : Amandrin, born 
October 9, 1825, married about 1855, Augusta M., daughter of 
Moses Ware, a Brattleboro shoemaker for many years. Mr. 
Kathan was employed many years by the Estey Organ Company, 
but retired from business some ten or fifteen years before the close 
of life, having accumulated considerable property. He and his 
wife were a long time active members of the Centre church in Brat- 
tleboro. She was a woman of great kindness of heart, thoroughly 
interested in all community and public affairs. She was bom in 
Brattleboro June 29, 1827, and died December 6, 1892. Her 
father, Moses Ware, was born March 2, 1808, and died April 25, 
1885. Her mother, Eliza E. Ware, was bom April 28, 1805, and 
died April 29, 1877. Her sister, Anna E., born August 3, 1841, 



THIRD GENERATION. 87 

died unmarried, May 25, 1879. Mr. Kathan died at his home on 
High Street, February 20, 1895. 

He left an estate valued at $20,000. His house was richly fur- 
nished throughout, and his library contained many valuable books. 
Mr. Kathan and wife both died without making a will and left no 
children to inherit their property. His half-brother, Herbert 
Knight, was the nearest of kin and inherited all their property, ex- 
cept $1,500, belonging to j\Irs. Kathan, whose estate had to be set- 
tled before that of her husband, and that amount went to her 
brother, and the balance to her husband's estate. 

Marinda Kathan, bom October 5, 1827, died January 13, 1847; 
Eliza, born February 13, 1831. Wyman L. Kathan died February 
25, 1832, aged 33 years. His will was dated May 5, 183 1. At that 
time he lived at the south end of the Kathan Meadows near Mill 
brook on a farm which was leased to him, August 12, 1822, and 
which he afterwards bought of Pliny Dickenson of Walpole, N. H., 
for $1,000, January 12, 1825, a few months before his marriage. 
His widow married June 7, 1834, Job Knight of Dummerston and 
had two children, Caroline, who died of consumption, June 18, 
1857, aged 22 years, and Herbert, who is now a resident of Brat- 
tleboro. Their mother died October 17, 1842. 

Thomas Kathan, 1788-1816. 

Married Sarah Dolph, December 25, 1806, removed to New 
Lebanon, Columbia County, N. Y., where he died May 21, 1816, 
aged 27 years. Soon after his death, his widow removed to Addi- 
son, Steuben County, N. Y. Their children were Olive Adaline, 
bom June 10, 1808, married Henry Wombough, October 18, 1827, 
died July 30, 1835 ; Eliza Arena, born February 12, 1810, married 
Otis Whittenhall, January 18, 1827, died December 2, 1895 ; George 
Washington, born April i, 1812, died May 23, 1812; Daniel 
Thomas, bom August 3, 1813, died January 3, 1815 ; Thomas Alex- 
ander, born December 6. 1815, married Sarah M. Gray, October 21, 
1 84 1, died November 10, 1863. at South Oxford, New York. 

Olive A. Kathan, 1808-1835. 

Married Henry Wombough, October 18, 1827, had five children : 
Maria Kathan. born May 9, 1828, married Charles S. Ames ; Har- 



»e HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

riet Frances, born February lo, 1830, married Jacob V. Graham; 
Pamelia Baldwin, born November 3, 183 1, married William Stra- 
della ; Eliza Arena, born August 3, 1833, married Fred Hober; 
George W., born December 26, 1834, married Caroline Clark. 

Eliza A. Kathan, 1810-1895. 

Married Otis Whittenhall, had six children: Sarah L., born 
November 2, 1827, married Lewis M. Waters, died March 15, 
1854; Thomas Alexander, born April 12, 1829, married Sarah 
Shoemaker; William Henry, born May 17, 1831, married Louisa L. 
Phillips, died November 15, 1868; James U., born May 28, 1834; 
Frances Adaline, bom September 18, 1838, married Edward M. 
Johnson, March 10, 1857; Jane Eliza, born November 5, 1840, mar- 
ried John G. Blampied in August i860. 

Thomas Alexander Kathan, 181 5-1863. 

Married Sarah M. Gray, had four children : Sarah Jane, born 
January 5, 1843, died May 24, 1847; i\gnes C, bom May 9, 1844, 
married Frank Shepard, May 6, 1873, and has no children ; Cora 
Eliza, born November 4, 185 1, married Edwin Clarence Sherwood 
and has no children ; Reid Alexander, born April 30, 1855, married 
Sarah Weil Butler, June 6, 1899. He was born in Brattleboro, 
Vermont, December 6, 181 5, and with the family moved to New 
Lebanon, Columbia County, N. Y., east of the Hudson river and 
west of Massachusetts, where his father, Thomas Kathan, died May 
21, 1816, aged 27 years. Shortly afterwards, his widow with her 
three children then living, removed to Addison, Steuben County. 
N. Y., in the southern part of the state, two hundred miles west of 
New Lebanon, where her son, Thomas Alexander, became the first 
male representative of the Kathans in that part of the state. His 
sister, Eliza A., born in Brattleboro in 1810, and who lived to be 85 
years old, remembered distinctly the circumstance of her mother's 
removal to Addison where she had brothers and sisters living. 

One of her brothers went to New Lebanon in a wagon and 
brought the mother and her three children to Steuben County. In 
making the journey they crossed the Hudson river at Albany on a 
flat boat, Mrs. Kathan driving the team while the crossing was 
made. 




Reid Alexander Kathan, of New York City. 



THIRD GENERATION. 89 

After her son, Thomas Alexander, had finished his school days, 
he was employed in a store until about twenty years of age, when 
he started out around the country with a horse and wagon, selling 
goods. A few years later he engaged in the lumber business. 
Steuben County at that time was thickly wooded, and a very profit- 
able industry was rafting logs down the river to Baltimore. On 
one of these trips, he caught a severe cold, causing him to lose his 
health, which he never entirely regained, although he lived many 
years afterwards. 

About 1854 he bought a farm in Addison upon which he lived 
until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he moved to Jersey 
City and again engaged in the lumber business until the summer of 
1863, when his health became very poor, and he moved to South 
Oxford, Chenango County, where he died November lo, 1863, 
aged nearly 48 years. In the old "Ten Broeck" cemetery at South 
Oxford, a fine granite monument was erected to his memory. His 
widow, who died in 1898, and was a descendant of the Ten Broecks, 
is also laid to rest in the same burial ground along with her ances- 
tors for many generations. 

The portrait of Thomas Alexander Kathan which appears in 
this publication, was contributed by his son, Reid Alexander 
Kathan, in kind remembrance of his father, who had a deep and 
true love for his children. 

Reid Alexander Kathan. 

Born in Addison, Steuben County, New York, April 30, 1855. 
He moved with his mother and sisters when nine years old to Ox- 
ford, N. Y., where he lived for six years and attended the academy, 
which at that time, as well as for many years previous, was consid- 
ered one of the best institutions of the kind in the state. During 
1870 he took a course at Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, 
N. Y., from which he was the youngest student to receive a 
diploma, and graduated with a record of 90 per cent. Then, being 
placed upon his own resources, he found it necessary, instead of 
aiming to acquire a higher education, to seek employment. He 
came to New York and sectu'ed a position as clerk in one of the 
large dry goods stores. He was occasionally referred to as a 
graduate of A. T. Stewart & Co.. a firm at that time with a great 



90 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

reputation for having had many young employes who afterwards 
developed as among the cleverest and most successful business and 
professional men. He still resides in New York, and for the past 
twenty-five years has been engaged in the silk business continuously 
in Broome Street. His father having died when he was young, it 
was more than twenty years before he met another man bearing the 
name of Kathan. He has traveled extensively on business, not only 
in the United States but also in Europe. His portrait appears 
among the illustrations in this volume, by request of the author, 
who is personally acquainted with Mr. Kathan and will vouch for 
him as a man, strong-limbed, clear-eyed, stout-hearted, clean-mind- 
ed, and able to hold his own in this great world of work and strife 
and ceaseless effort. 

The Wombough Family Record. 

Maria Kathan Wombough and Charles S. Ames were married 
September 5, 1849, ^^''d had one child, Frances Rachel, born Sep- 
tember 29, 1850, and married Denton D. Cooley, September 6, 1863 ; 
died August 11, 1882. Twins were born to them but died infants. 

Harriet Frances Wombough and Jacob V. Graham were married 
September 20, 1852; had one child, Clara, born April 29, 
1855, and married Frank G. Parsons, June 28, 1877 and had one 
child, Graham, born June 18, 1880. Pamelia Baldwin Wombough 
and William Stradella were married July i, 1856. Children: 
Withelm, born 1864, married Frances Gillett, November 6, 1890. 
Children, Augusta Gillett, born May 8, 1894, and Charles Gillett, 
born January 29, 1898; Alberta Stradella was born December 26, 
1869. Eliza A. Wombough and Fred Hober were married Novem- 
ber 20, 1859, and had no children. George W. Wombough and 
Caroline Clark had one child. Olive, born August 2, 1859, mar- 
ried Horace Daniels and had one child, Harry Daniels, born Octo- 
ber, 1880. 

The Whittenhall Family Record. 

Sarah Whittenhall and Lewis Waters had one child that died 
young. Thomas Alexander Whittenhall and Sarah Shoemaker had 
nine children. William Henry Whittenhall and Louisa Phillips had 
one child, Fred Wliittenhall, born June, 1853, died October i, 1877. 




George Frank Kathan. 



THIRD GENERATION. 91 

Frances Adaline \\'liittenhall and Edward ]\I. Johnson had one 
child, Jane P. W. Johnson, born August 8, 1859, married November 
19, 1879, Willard E. Yeager and had one child Willita, born Octo- 
ber 29, 1880, died young. Jane Eliza Whittenhall and John Blam- 
pied had three children: Fannie M., born September 25, 1861, 
married Thomas J. Winne; Harrie Edward, born June 10, 1863, 
married Louisa Clayton Smith; and Belle Kathan, who married 
Oliver A. Quayle, November 11, 1891. Fannie M. Blampied and 
Thomas J. Winne had one child, Willard Winne, bom June, 1898. 
Harrie Edward Blampied and Louise C. Smith had one child, Alida 
Blampied, born December, 1893. Belle Kathan Blampied and 
Oliver A. Quayle had three children : Oliver, born March 6. 1893, 
Edith born November 5, 1894, and Howard, born March 9, 1896. 

Mary Kathan, 1756-1850. 

The eldest child of Alexander Kathan, married Elihu Sargeant 
and had seven children. Elihu, born November 13, 1780; Molly, 
born November 2.2, 1781 ; Clarissa, born April 19, 1783; Thomas, 
born December 19, 1784; Alexander, born March 8, 1787; Chester, 
born April 28, 1789, died same year; and George, bom January 28, 
1797. Elihu Sargeant died December i, 1833. Mary Kathan, his 
wife, died December 18, 1850, aged 94 years, 2 months. 

Thomas Kathan, 1764- 1838. 

The third son of Alexander, Esq., was born April 30, 1764, and 
married ]\Iay 22, 1803, Anna Burnham. She died and he married, 
second, Abigail Haven, daughter of David and Abigail Haven, 
September 17, 1829. Thomas Kathan died July 15, 1838, aged 74. 
His widow married, second, Benjamin Streeter, third, Leonard 
j\Iaxwell. Elizabeth, youngest child of Alexander Kathan, born 
December 25, 1767, died unmarried, January 13, 1828, aged 60. 
Her death was caused by a fall down the cellar stairs. 

John KathAxV, 1758-1833. 

The eldest son of Alexander, Esq., married, first, Polly, sister of 
Bethany, wife of Jesse Ivnight of Dummerston. They were daugh- 
ters of Job Perry of Putney. Polly died ^ilarch 8, 1791, aged 23 



92 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

years. He married, second, Rebecca, daughter of John Severy of 
Worcester, Mass. She died December 25, 1837, aged 79 years. 
He died April 10, 1833, aged 74 years. By the first marriage he 
had one child, John, born November 6, 1790; by the second mar- 
riage, one child, Polly, born March 16, 1794, married July 3, 1811, 
Squire Spaulding of Dummerston, who settled in Chesterfield, 
N, H., soon after 181 5. She died February 22, 1885, aged 90 years, 
II months, 6 days. Her age united with that of her aunt. Mary 
Kathan Sargeant, 94 years, 2 months, amounts to 185 years. Her 
grandfather, Alexander Kathan, died at the age of 95 years, 9 
months, and his second wife, Mary Hart Davenport, lived to be 98 
years and 3 months old. The united ages of these four persons 
amounts to 379 years. 




John Kathan, Grandson of Alexander. 



Chapter VIII. 
John Kathan, 1790-1859. 



ma^rLc^fl T T ""'' '°" "' J°'^" ^^^h^"' ^om 1758, and 
marned Rhoda Burnham, daughter of Roswell and Rhoda (Hud- 
son) Burnham, of Westmorelanrl M w 1 1 t^ 

. vv estmoreland, iN. H., who was born December 

Rhoda Hudson was born in Chesterfield, N. H., May 8 1778 and 
was the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Holman) Hu'dso'l ' Mr 
Kathan hved on the ancestral homestead, settled by his grandfather" 

hi To: Th""; "^ ''''■ ^"^^^^^"^^^ ^-^^- -^lled'his farm to 
his son Thomas, born 1764; and as Thomas had no children to 
mhent the estate, his father made provision in his will that the 
property should come into the possession of his son John, born 17.8 
and after him, into the possession of John, Jr., born' 1790. Thomas' 
and his brother John occupied the farm together until September 19, 
1829, when Thomas sold to John Kathan, Jr., for $1,200, one equal 
unchvK led half of the property, ''which is the whole of lot No i, 
and IS the same farm lately occupied by Alexander Kathan, late of 
Dummerston, deceased." On the same day that Thomas Kathan 
sold John, Jr., one undivided half of the old farm, he leased to him 
he other undivided half and a certain piece of land west of the old 
farm, called the Rhodes lot, containing fifteen acres. Previous to 
1829 a new part was built to the house and provision was made in 
he lease regarding Its occupation. Provision was also made for the 
care of Thomas Kathan's stepmother. In August, 1843, the old 
homestead barely escaped destruction by a violent wind ;r hurri 
cane that prostrated several acres of forest trees on the hills west of 
he buildings. The hurricane swept down across the plain, leveling 
the trees m Its path, making a direct course towards the house 
around which it made a sudden turn, shaking up the statelv old elms' 
fur ously and spending its force not far to the eastward. ' The last 
of the old growth pines on the Alexander Kathan farm was cut 
down m 188X. John Kathan and Adin A. Button cut one abo't 
i«55 that measured 139 feet in length and 118 feet in length of logs. 



94 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

A second growth pine was cut on Slate Rock hill one and a half 
mile south from the Kathan farm that sawed out 2,157 ^^^^ of 
boards. 

It was during- Mr. Kathan's residence on the farm that the school 
house, half a mile north from his place in District No. 4, was burned 
on the night before the Fourth of July, 1841. A party of lawless 
chaps in Putney went to Brattleboro that evening and on their mid- 
night carousal home found pleasure in making a bonfire of the 
old school house. It was not rebuilt until the fall of 1843. ^t a 
school meeting held May 29, 1843, i^ the shop of John Kathan, it 
was voted to accept his proposal to furnish all the timber for the 
frame of the new school building as his share of the tax. Samuel 
Johnson, Wilder Knight and Alanson Gates were chosen a commit- 
tee to build the house 26 feet long, 20 feet wide and 18 feet between 
joists. The district was divided in regard to the location of the 
school house. At one meeting, it was voted to locate it on the east 
side of the stage road, at another on the west side. At a meeting 
held August 11, 1843, the prudential committee were instructed to 
notify the selectmen to locate the school house. It was finally 
decided to locate it on John Kathan's land next to Arba Clark's line, 
where it now stands. 

The Family Record of John and Rhoda Kathan. 

Louisa, born February 5, 1819, married Wilder Knight, July 2, 
1839; Horace, born November 9, 1821, died March 12, 183 1 ; 
Aurelia S., born February 28, 1823, married Wm. A. Dutton, Sep- 
tember 10, 1850; Adaline E., born June 14, 1825, married Orrin 
Kathan, September 14, 1856; Fanny M., born February 18, 1829, 
married Adin A. Dutton, January i, 1850; Ellen E., born February 
26, 1831, married Larkin G. Cole, April 13, 1858; John H., born 
March 23, 1833, married Fanny M. Newman, August 9, 1856; 
George Frank, born November 18, 1835, married Eliza C. Ware, 
May 5, i860; Kingsley S., born July 2, 1838, died December 27, 
1864; Henry H., born August 18, 1840, married Belle Belknap, 
May 6, 1863. 

The family relatives of John Kathan, 1790-1859, contributed his 
portrait for this publication. 




Louisa (Kathan) Knight. 

From a Dagiioi reotype. 



FOURTH GENERATION. gg 

Louisa Kathan and Wilder Knight. 

Biographical Record. 

Louisa Kathan, the eldest child of John and Rhoda (Burnham) 
Kathan, married Wilder I^ight, son of Captain Jesse and Pollv 
(Fairbanks) Knight of Dummerston. They commenced their house 
keeping m Putney, Vt., where Mr. Knight was engaged in the 
cabinet making and undertaking business, which he carried on suc- 
cessfully until failing health compelled him to retire from active 
labor, and he and Mrs. Knight returned to the home of her parents 
where they remained until the fall of 1855, when they removed to 
Westmoreland, N. H., where they met with reverses and again re- 
turned to Dummerston. In the spring of 1857 Mr. Knight bought 
a small farm and gristmill near Dummerston Centre where he and 
his family lived until the spring of 1867, when they removed to 
Brattleboro and resided with their daughter, Mrs. Bond, many 
years ^Irs. Knight died June 29, 1884, aged 65 vears. Mr 
Knight was born in Dummerston, September 22, 1814, and died in 
Brattleboro, December i, 1888, aged 74 years. They united witli the 
Congregational church in early life, lived consistent Christian lives 
and were much esteemed for their uprightness of character, show- 
ing unvarying kindness and thoughtfulness in all the relations of 
h±e. Their two children were: Jerome W. Knight, born in 
Dummerston, February 15, 1842, married February 15, 1869 Ella 
H., daughter of Asa Sherwin of Brattleboro. She died August 28 
1895- Mr. Knight has been in the employ of the Este/ Organ 
Company 35 years, as chief inspector of organs. He spent two 
years in Europe, where he traveled extensively in the interest of 
the company, visiting many of the large cities on the continent and 
London in England. 

Alaria L. Knight was born September 28, 1843, and married 
October 3, 1865, Henry E. Bond of Dummerston, who was born 
October 7, 1841. In 1880 Mr. Bond entered the business of under- 
taker and has been continuously in it since that vear, and at the 
present time is president of the Funeral Directors' Association. 
He has been successful in business and now occupies the first floor 
and basement of Bond's block, 19 Main Street, which is fitted up 
lor his accommodation. Although a busv man, Mr. Bond has 



9(5 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

found time to pass through all the chairs in the subordinate 
I. O. O. F. lodge and the encampment, and has held offices in the 
state grand lodge. He is well known in the Vermont National 
Guard, as a member of Company I, eight years, and commissary 
sergeant four years. Mr. Bond is a member of Columbian Lodge, 
F. and A. M., Bingham Chapter and Knights Templar, and of the 
Protective Grange. In the Congregational church, he was deacon 
for more than i8 years. Mrs. Bond is not only an active member 
of the church, but is prominent in several of the patriotic and 
benevolent societies existing in Brattleboro. 

William H. Bond, their only child, was born February 19, 1872, 
and married, first, June 3, 1895, Ella Caroline, daughter of Harrison 
Morse of Brooklyn, N. Y., and granddaughter of the late Major- 
General Augustus Morse, of Massachusetts. She died May 14, 
1897, leaving one son, Henry Harrison Morse Bond, born July 25, 
1896. His father married, second, July 31, 1900, Lavinia Seymore, 
daughter of the late Chelsea W. Hubbard, of South Dakota. Mr. 
Hubbard was the son of Erastus and Fanny Frost Hubbard and 
grandson of Jacob and Dolly Kathan Frost, whose portraits appear 
in this volume. Mrs. Henry E. Bond is much interested in the 
Kathan history and has been instrumental in securing for it the 
portraits of Mrs. Louisa (Kathan) I^iight, Mrs. Maria Louise 
Bond, William H. Bond, and H. H. Morse Bond, born July 25, 
1896, "Little Morse," as she calls her grandson. 

Horace Kathan, the second child of John and Rhoda Kathan, lost 
his life at the age of nine years by a singular accident. He was 
helping his father take off a kettle of hot maple sugar. The leg of 
the kettle caught on the side of the arch and tipped the contents on 
the boy. His father caught hold of him instantly and dipped him 
into a tub of cold sap which reheved him of pain for a short time, but 
was not effective in saving his life. He died nine days after the 
accident, aged nine years. 

AuRELiA S. Kathan and William A. Dutton. 

The following appreciative obituary notice appeared in The 
Vermont Phoenix, August 18, 1899, two days after the death of 
Mr. Dutton. Mrs. Dutton, who was a very amiable and excellent 
woman, died May 19, 1892, aged 69 years. 



J 




Maria (Knight) Bond. 



I 



FOURTH GENERATION. Oy 

DEACON WILLIAM A. BUTTON. 

His Death Occurred Wednesday After an Illness of Three 

Iears With Softening of The Brain. 

Deacon William A. Dutton, a^ed 7a vear^ rl,V.i .f i • , 
Ar^- c^ . • T^ '^S^'-' /4 veart,, cliecl at his home on 

so en^r: ■" Brattleboro, August :6, .899. He had been Z2 
Salome n„t n,, ,,'^f '""" 8' '^^5. and was a son of Adams and 

Ha^en, wliere he hved on a tarm until he was 21 years old He 
en tetutned to Hydeville, a vdlage in Castleton. where he tr„" 

shend and formed a partnership with the late Deaeon Estey of Brat- 

Jhe> drew their marble from Dorset in winter and worked it in 

abou 184, and was conducted in a shop which stood about where 

t ,0 irDt°tt "°:' T^'- '''■ ^^'^-^- ^^'"--^^ -'d '- '"'"- 
- t u u Z" ''^°"'"-'"-'='«-- Jo"n H. Kathan, and later IMr 
Katl,an bought Mr. Dutton's interest. .\bout 1854 Mr. Dutton 
went to Sherbrooke, P. O., and went into the marbt busines ac 
ompa„,ed by his brother, D. D. Dutton, who learned his ti-ade 
toe, and was with him six years. I„ ,870, or thereabouts, Mr. 
Dutton exchanged his business in Canada with Mr. Kathan and 
returned to Bra.tleboro, locating in tl,e building on Depot street 
v.nich he occupied ever since. ' 

Mr Dutton joined the Congregational church bv letter from th^ 
church in Sherbrooke in 1870. He was elected a member of tl.; 
duirch committee in 1871 and in 1876 he was elected deacon, resi^n- 
'ng m 1895 on account of ill health. His relations with the church 
and community, in business and otherwise, were characterized by 
an honesty and sincerity of purpose, and he was respected by ail 

Tro her D J t'n '" '"'' P"'"' '"^^ ^''^''' "^^- ^^ ^^^^'two 
brothers, Dr. J. S. Dutton and D. D. Dutton, both of Brattleboro. 

Adaline E. Kathan and Orrin Kathan. 

^ Mrs. Kathan was a daughter of John and Rhoda Kathan, and 
iier husband was a son of Gardner and Betsey (Townsend) Kathan. 



98 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Her grandfather was Alexander Kathan, Esq., who was a brother 
of John, the father of Gardner. She died July 19, 1863, aged 38 
vears. See Gardner Kathan record. 

Fanny M. Kathan and Adin A. Button. 

Their children were: Mary E., born September 22, 1851,^ died 
September 5, 1853; Myron F., born February 12, 1855; Hattie A., 
born September 20, 1856; Jennie F., born November 10, 1864. 

Deacon Adin A. Button. 

Mr Button has been deacon of the Congregational church for 
tnirty-three vears, bein- chosen in 1868. His parents were Alonzo 
and Harriet' (Goss) Button, and his grandparents were Samuel 
?nd A])io-ail (Hodgskins) Button. Flis great-grandfather, Samuel 
Button, married Rebecca French, a sister of William French, killed 
in the "Westminster massacre" in 1775. His ancestors settled m 
Bummerston before 1770 and came here from Billerica, Mass. His 
line of ancestry is as follows: Alonzo^ Samuel', Samuel, 
SamueP, Samuel^ John^ Thomas^ JohnS who was the Pun- 
tan ancestor and came to America from England, probably, 
with Governor Winthrop in 1630. Beacon Button's farm was 
first settled in Revolutionary times. The two-story dwelling m 
which he lives was built in 1803 by Asahael Webster, a blacksmith 
whose shop stood south of the present buildings on the west side of 
the road He bought the farm in 1797, sold it in 1805 and removed 
to Bennington, Vt. On his way over the Green Mountains to his 
new home, he stopped on the height of land overlooking the Con- 
necticut valley, looked back over the region of his late home, 
and, turning from the beautiful landscape scenery before him, gave 
a long, long sigh and wept a last adieu. Samuel Button, Jr., 
grand'fkther of the present owner, resided on the farm at the time 
of his death, February 18, 1835, aged 63 years. Thomas Button, to 
whom the following deed was granted in 1674, was born m Eng- 
land in 1621 and came to America with his father. 

Thomas Button, Sen., who was son of John Button, the Puritan 
ancestor, had several pieces of land granted to him in Billerica, 
Mass. The following is a copy of one of his deeds. 




William H. Bond. 




H. H. Morse Bond. 



FOURTH GENERATION. 99 

"The to^vne of Billerica hath granted to Thomas Dutton Senr as 
lolloweth 

March 1674. 

Theyhave granted to him twenty acres of land be it more or 
lesse lymg m the north east of foxes meadow bounded by John 
Sheldon on ye west then running 36 degs. half west from north 
eighy pole bounded by foxes brook on ye north ve side lines are 
parallels it lyeth forty pole wide ye line at ve south end runes 60 
oegs. west from ye S. bounded by the Comon land south and north 
The Condition of this grant is that ye said Thomas Dutton shall 
not have any power to sell or alienate any of the said land without 
ye consent of the towne unless it bee to his owne children lawfullv 
borne and begotten of his body." 

Billerica Book of Land Grants. 

Myron F. Dutton married June 3, 1884, Alice E., daughter of Dea- 
con Benjamin and Almira Buffum. She was bom in Wilmington, 
Vt October 29, 1859. Children : Everett P., born March 21, i88s " 
Edith A., born July 8, 1887 : Ruth J., born January 23, 189. Mr' 
Dutton IS associated with his father, Deacon A. A. Dutton in the 
management of the well-known ancestral farm. It was bought bv 
his great-grandfather, Samuel Dutton, September 6, 1819 and 
after him came into the possession of his son. Alonzo Dutton' who 
owned the place many years. His successor w^s his onlv son,'Adin 
A. Duttom who relinquishes, at the age of more than 'three-score 
.vears and ten, the hardest part of the farm labor, and leaves the 
care and management principally to his only son, Mvron F. Dutton 
^^'ho IS a prosperous farmer, interested in local historv and public 
tT'^T fP^e^e^ted the town in the Vermont Legislature of 
_i«96. This farm, on which many improvements have been made 
m recent years, is located near the Connecticut river in East Dum- 
merston. The well-built slate-stone walls along the roadside, the 
well-cultivated and productive fields, the neat-looking buildincrs 
shaded by rows of stately maples, are evidences of good manage- 
ment by diligent and progressive farmers who own and occupv 
the banner farm of Dummerston. Mr. Dutton is greatlv in- 
terested m the publication of the Kathan Histon-, has 'spent 
considerable time in looking up information for the work con- 



LcfC. 



100 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

tributed two illustrations, and was instrumental in securing money 
to pay the expense of his grandfather John Kathan's portrait. The 
two illustrations are, The Maple Sugar Orchard on the Alexander 
Kathan Farm, showing a view of the Kathan homestead, and a 
picture of the Kathan gun, powder horn, and inscription or name 
plate on the gun. 

Hattie A. Button married December 31, 1874, Adin F. Miller, 
born in Dummerston, July 16, 1850, on the ancestral farm settled 
by his great-grandfather, Captain Vespasian Miller, a seafaring 
man, before he came to Dummerston in Revolutionary times. His 
son, Joseph Miller, was born in Dummerston in 1780. Adin F. 
is the son of Joseph Miller, born in 1817 and town clerk of Dum- 
merston for fifty-two years, two months. Soon after the death of 
his father, May 10, 1901, aged 84 years, he resigned the office of 
first constable and tax collector, which he held for more than 16 
years, and accepted the appointment of town clerk and treasurer 
made vacant by the death of his father. He was a member of 
the Vermont Legislature in 1888. 

Jennie Frances Dutton, the youngest child of Deacon and Mrs. 
Adin A. Dutton. died at the home of her sister, Mrs. Adin F. 
Miller, January 31, 1901, aged 36 years. She had been ill since 
March, 1900, when she had a severe attack of the grip which 
developed into a lung trouble ending in consumption. Miss 
Dutton's life had been spent in her childhood home at the well- 
known parental homestead. She was a devoted member of the 
Congregational church, had for a long term of years taught the 
primary class in the Sunday school and had done much in many 
ways for the various members of this class. She was loved and 
esteemed by all in the circle who knew her well. Such a life as 
that of Miss Dutton is pictured in Whittier's hymn for a Quaker 
woman's burial : — 

Her still and quiet life flowed on 

As meadow streamlets flow, 
Where fresher green reveals alone 

The noiseless way the}^ go. 

The dear Lord's best interpreters 

Are humble human souls; 
The gospel of a life like hers 

Is more than books or scrolls. 



fourth generation. ^qj 

Ellen E. Kathan and Larkin G. Cole. 

Mr. Cole was a son of Abel Cole of Westmoreland, N H where 
he was born May 9, 1824, and was one of a family of nine children 
ihe Cole family was one of the oldest in Westmoreland, and the 
fourth and fifth generation are now living there on the home farm 
He died at his home in West Brattleboro, February 14, 1895, aged 
71 years. His chief occupation was that of a hotel keeper, h'avtng 
been engaged in business with his brother in Rutland, Ludlow 
Leominster and Fitchburg, Mass., and other places. 

John H. Kathan and Fannie j\L Newman. 

His wife was a resident of Brattleboro, was born July 24 1836 
and died September 17, 1881, aged 45 years. He died of erys'ipelas' 
December 7, 1883, aged 49 years, 8 months. Mr. Kathan learned 
the trade of marble worker, and his business experience is related in 
the sketch of his brother-in-law, Wm. A. Button. He had an only 
child, Edward P., born August 24, 1857, who was a bright, intel- 
ligent boy with a studious turn of mind. He prepared for colleo-e 
at Wesleyan Seminary, Stanstead, Canada East. At the time of 
his death, June 24, 1879, he was a member of the senior class at 
Victoria College, Cobourg, Canada, and ranked third in a class of 
sixty-four. Mr. Kathan's home in 1883, and at the time of his 
death, was with his brother-in-law, Deacon Adin A. Dutton The 
following incident is characteristic of Mr. Kathan's benevolent dis- 
position. Caleb and Lucy Higgins were two aged persons of hum- 
ble birth and circumstances, whom Mr. Kathan knew well in former 
years. They died and were buried in the East Dummerston ceme- 
tery, the husband in 1863, the ^.ife in 1865, and no memorial stone 
had marked their burial place for twenty vears. During the sum- 
mer of 1883, a few months before he died, Mr. Kathan procured at 
his own expense and placed at the head of their graves a marble 
slab with suitable inscriptions and a brief record of their life-service 
m the followmg sentence: "Humble and unassuming in life thev 
did what they could." " ' 

George Frank Kathan and Eliza Cole Ware. 

She ^^s born December 23, 1838, and was the daughter of James 
Royal Ware of Westmoreland, N. H., whose parents were Levi and 



102 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Peggy King Ware, the first of the name in Westmoreland. Levi 
Ware was born January 27, 1767, married November 4, 1794, Peggy 
King, who was born September 16, 1773, and died November 14, 
1817. He died August 20, 1845. James R., the youngest of nine 
children of these parents, was born in Westmoreland, April 11, 181 1, 
and married March 15, 1838, Susanna L. Cole, who died March 25, 
1857. Mr. Kathan is a carpenter and resides in Westmoreland. 
His portrait appears in this publication. He had two children, Lilla 
and Myrtie. Lilla E. Kathan, bom December 30, 1861, married 
January i, 1884, Charles H. Leach, born June 5, 1859, the only son 
of Henry Leach and his third wife, Eunice S. Campbell, daughter of 
Dr. John Norton Campbell of Westmoreland, and widow of George 
Leonard, when she married Mr. Leach, who was born in Westmore- 
land in 1803 and son of Isaac Leach, a native of Salem, Mass. 
Myrtie E., sister of Lilla, was born October 30, 1866, died May 25, 
1894. Lilla's children are: Gladys Eunice, born January 22, 
1889, and Merton Campbell, born September 28, 1898. 
Kingsley S. Kathan died unmarried aged 26 years. 

Henry H. Kathan and Belle Belknap. 

Mrs. Kathan was from Westminster, Vt., and was the daughter 
of John P. and Harriet (French) Belknap of Dummerston. He 
died August 24, 1873, aged 33 years. They had an only child, Lila 
J., born September 30, 1866, and who married, June 24, 1884, Julius 
C. Timson, a real estate agent, and colonel in the New Hampshire 
militia. They reside in Claremont, N. H., and have two children: 
Catherine B., born September 5, 1885, and Hazel H., born May 2, 
1890. 

The Manchester Union of Friday, March 7, 1902, contained a 
half-tone cut of Colonel Julius C. Timson of Claremont. N. H., 
formerly of Brattleboro, together with the following as a news 
despatch from Claremont : "The action at a recent meeting of the 
Patriarchs Militant of New Hampshire, whereby Colonel Julius 
C. Timson of this town was elected colonel in command of the 
First Regiment of the state by Grand Cantons Wildey and Albin, 
and Cantons Osgood, Franklin, Tilton, Hanover and Oasis City of 
Berlin, will bring the headquarters of the regiment to Claremont. 
Colonel Timson is lieutenant colonel of the Second Regiment, 



FOURTH GENERATION. 103 

N. H. N. G., and is a very active worker in all of the organizations 
with which he is identified. His friends have showered congratu- 
lations upon him for this latest testimonial to his ability and 
popularity." 



Chapter IX. 
Gardner Kathan, 1767-1813. 

Was son of John and Lois (Moore) Kathan, who were married 
in Bolton, Mass., September 11, 1766. He was bom in 1767. He 
married, May 24, 1789, Betsey Townsend, who died about 1805, and 
he married, second, EHzabeth (maiden name unknown), who be- 
came the mother of his youngest son, George Kathan. Her hus- 
band died February 11, 1813, aged 46 years, and on May 8, 1813, 
she quitclaimed her right of dower to the estate of her late husband 
to Robert Kathan, administrator of the estate of his father, Gard- 
ner Kathan, for $200 and the maintenance of her son George until 
he was seven years old. The children of Gardner and Betsey 
Kathan were: Robert, born 1790, died April 8, 1819; Henry, bom 
1792; Gardner, Jr., born August 11, 1794, married April 10, 1821, 
Jerusha, daughter of Charles and Lydia (Scott) Kathan; Betsey, 
born 1796, married October 17, 1817, Abel Knight, died March 4, 
1872; Richard, born January 9, 1798, married Lucy G. Reynolds in 
1818; Stephen, born 1800, married at Brattleboro in 1822, Candace 
Brown ; Orrin, born February 4, 1802, married September 9, 1856, 
Adaline Kathan; John, born 1804; George, half-brother, born 1810, 
married Mary B. Merrill. 

Gardner Kathan, Jr., 1794-1858. 

Born August 11, 1794. married Jerusha Kathan, born December 
29, 1800, daughter of Charles and Jerusha (Scott) Kathan. He 
died June 28, 1858, aged nearly 64 years. She died March 8, 1888, 
aged 87 years. Their children were : Gardner S. Kathan, 
born December 4, 1821, married, first, Elizabeth C. Knight, April 
25, 1854, daughter of Lyman and Polly (Johnson) Knight. She 
died October 28, 1858. They had a son, Robert L., bom May, 1856, 
died February, 1858, aged 19 months ; daughter, Elizabeth M., 
born August 29, 1858, married Charles E. Fay of Amherst, Mass., 
February 3, 1879. Had one child, George E. Fay, born December 
10, 1879. Gardner S., married, second, Martha Ellen Lane of Put- 




Gardner S. Kathan, of Dummerston, Vt. 



THIRD GENERATION. IQ^ 

ney, September 21, 1868. She was born December 22 1831 Had 
one child by the second marriage, NelHe S., born September n 
1870, married Herbert C. Howard, April 7, 1894. Children' 
Beatrice M., born December 31, 1894; Russell B., born June 24' 
1896; Maxme E., born December 2, 1899. Henry B., born January 
7, 1823; Ehza, born May 6, 1825, died May 6, 1826; Norman, bom 
January 25, 1827, died March 23, 1865, aged 37 years; Dorr W., 
bom July 8, 1829, died June 6, 1877; John Alexander, bom July 19 
1831, died in Litchfield, III, February 3, 1896; Frances Elizabeth,' 
bom Noyember 15, 1833, married a Stoddard, died in Hartford 
Conn., February 12, 1901 ; Helen, born December 22, 1837 died 
September 30, 1838; Riley H., bom June 15, 1839. died September 
17, 1844. 

Gardner S. Kathan, the eldest of these nine children of Gardner 
Kathan, Jr., was born in the old red house near Putney railroad 
station, the home of his parents and grandparents. He is of the 
same age as his cousin, Robert Kathan of Putney, both having been 
born December 4, 1821, one in the forenoon and the other in the 
aftemoon. He is the only one of his father's family now liyino- 
and contributes his portrait for the Kathan History. From the firs^t 
settlement of Dummerston in 1752 down to the present time 
families by the name of Kathan haye been residents of the town.' 
Gardner S. is the only one in town who now bears the name. 

Henry B. Katiian, 1823-1890. 

W^as bom in Dummerston, June 7, 1823, and married December 
25, 1845, Malona E., daughter of Samuel Johnson of Dummerston. 
They were married in this town by the Rev. Wm. Nelson Barber 
He died in Putney, December 13, 1890. She died in that town at 
the home of her son, Warner Kathan, January 26, 1901, aged 75 
years, after less than a week's illness with pneumonia. She was a 
native of Putney and spent her life in that town and in Dummers- 
ton, and was recognized as a woman of many sterling attributes. 
Their children bom in Dummerston were:' Nettie E bom 
November 26, 1846, died November 17, 1862; Warner H.', bom 
October 8, 1848, married October 28, 1893, Delia E. Kent of Put- 
ney; George E., born September 12, 1850, married Lucretia Taft 
m 1878; Willie G., born November 8, 1854, died November 20, 



106 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

1857; Clara L., bom December 18, 1856, married F. C. Ferris, 
September 6, 1872; Charlie G., born May 4, 1858, died December 
20, 1862; Arthur L., bom August 16, i860, died February 3, 1887. 

Warner H. Kathan and Delia E. Kent have three children: 
Lefranc C, born July 18, 1895; Bertha J., born August i, 1897; 
Dexter W., bom July 8, 1899. 

George E. Kathan and Lucretia Clark were married July 14, 
1883, and reside in Creston, Washington. Children : Walter E., 
born August 3, 1884, and Russell C, born April 20, 1889. 

Clara L. Kathan and Fernando C. Ferris of St. Lawrence county, 
in northern New York, were married September 8, 1873. Chil- 
dren : Arthur E., born December 8, 1874; Winnie M., born July 
28, 1878; and Arlie A., born May 12, 1885. 

Dorr W. Kathan married Elizabeth Briggs of Brattleboro, Sep- 
tember 14, 1858, and their children are : Adeliza E., born April 23, 
1863, married Rev. Samuel A. Read of IMassachusetts ; Fannie A., 
born July 17, 1872, married Charles T. Crouss of Massachusetts, 
April 25, 1894. Their children are: Theodore A., born April 29, 

1895, and Irene K., born March 16, 1897. All are residents of 
Agawam, Mass. 

John Alexander Kathan died in Litchfield, 111., February 27, 

1896. His wife, Eliza A. Perry of Putney, died in January, 1897. 
They were married in 1856 and their children are : Frank E., born 
in September, 1858, married Emma Faulkner, May i, 1882, and 
had one child, Ora, born in 1883. They reside in Warrenton, Mo. ; 
Fannie H., bom in August, 1872, married James H. Atterburg, 
January 31, 1894, and their child, James H., Jr., was born Decem- 
ber 29, 1895. Residence, Litchfield, 111. 

Betsey Kathan^ Born 1796. 

Married Abel Knight and had a large family. Among their chil- 
dren were: Maria, Oscar, Leroy, Edwin, Jesse, Alonzo, Abel, and 
Mary Jane. 

Richard Kathan, 1798-1829. 

Married Lucy G. Reynolds in 1818 and resided in Westminster, 
Vt., in 1821, when his son Robert was born. He soon afterwards 
moved to Putney village M'here he lived and died July 30, 1829, in 



^^ 9^S\^ 




Robert Kathan, of Putney, Vt. 



THIRD GENERATION. 107 

the house nov/ owned by ]\Jrs. Samuel Knight. His wife died 
March 12, 1888, aged 86 years 5 months. Their children were: 
Betsey, born, February 24, 1820, married Stilman Chamberlain in 
January, 1847; Robert, born December 4, 1821, married Abbie A. 
Holland, February 20, 1856; Mary, born in January, 1823, married 
Henry Haynes August, 1852, died October i, 1855; Sarah, born 
March 16, 1826, married John Densmore Wheat, October 7, 1845. 

Robert Kathan, Born tn 1821. 

Married Abbie Amelia Holland and had a family of four chil- 
dren : Charles Crawford, bom January 7, 1857, married Fannie 
Fitcheti ; Mary Alice, born December i, 1858, well educated and a 
school teacher for many years, died December 14, 1897; Cora 
Emma, born March 3, 1862, has been employed many years as a 
school teacher and is very successful in her vocation ; Florence 
Abbie, born November 12, 1871, was a very faithful instructor in 
classics at Black River Academy several years. ^Ir. Kathan is a 
farmer and was educated in the schools of Putney. He has repeat- 
edly held the office of lister in this town. In political faith he is a 
Republican, and his religious preference is Congregationalist. He 
is highly esteemed and greatly respected by his townsmen, who 
elected him to represent the town in the legislature of 1884. His 
daughters, Cora and Florence, contribute their fathers's portrait as 
a representative of the Kathan family in the line of Richard, his fa- 
ther, and Gardner, his grandfather, who was a son of John and 
Lois Kathan and grandson of Captain John Kathan. 

Orrin Kathan, 1802- 1886. 

Was born in Dummerston in the old red house and parental 
homestead near the site of the present railroad station in Putney. 
At the age of seven years he became a member of Asa Gates's fam- 
ily and lived there until he was a young man. He was a clerk for a 
time in the* store of the late Hon. Asa Knight. After a while he 
and Nelson Miller bought the mercantile business of Mr. Knight 
and continued in trade two or three years, until Mr. Knight repur- 
chased the business. Mr. Kathan was liked very much as a sales- 
man. He was always cheerful, sociable, and pleasing in manner. 



108 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Later he had a clerkship in Brattleboro with Weston Hopkins in a 
store down by the bridge. His employer was familiarly called 
"West End" Hopkins and some persons remember that he was 
generally known as "Polly" Hopkins. Mr. Kathan had the "gold 
fever" in 1852 and went to California by the way of the Isthmus 
of Panama. He remained in San Franicsco three years and re- 
turned to Dummerston, where he married Adaline Kathan, a distant 
relative, in 1856. During his stay here he was clerk in the store oi 
the late Roger Birchard, who- was burned with his store and con- 
tents, February 13, 1870. Mr. Kathan's wife, Adahne, died in 
1863 and he married a second time and removed to Brattleboro, 
where he died December 13, 1886, aged 84 years, 10 months. By 
the first marriage he had a daughter, Addie S. Kathan, born Febru- 
ary 19, 1862, who married Ned E. Cleveland, November 24, 1885, 
and resides in Fitchburg, Mass. They have no children. She con- 
tributes her father's portrait to this publication. 

George Kathan, 1810-1861. 

Was son of Gardner by his second marriage, which occurred 
about 1808. He was bom in 1810, went to New York City when a 
young man, and in 1833 became a member of the state artillery. 
He afterwards served three years in the navy and was discharged 
from the service, on board the United States ship Ohio, in Septem- 
ber, 1844. He married in Lowell, Mass., in 1845, Mary B. Merrill. 
No other service of him is remembered by his children more than 
his military career. He died in Putney, June i, 1861, aged 51 
years. His mother, Elizabeth Kathan, married again after the 
death of her first husband. A letter written to her son in 1847 is 
still extant and is signed Betsey Heath. The widow of George 
Kathan married, about 1865, Loren Hollister and lived in Putney. 
He died out West and his widow died at Bellows Falls in January, 
1880. The children of George Kathan were Sarah J. and Charles 
H. His daughter, Sarah J. Kathan, was born March 4, 1846, and 
married July 30, 1867, John Lynch, a soldier, who served in the 
Civil War four years. He was born in Westford, Vt., and his 
parents moved to Windsor, Conn., when he was 16 years of age. 
He enlisted in Co. B, nth Regt. Ct. Vols., and was sergeant of his 
company. He has been commander six 3'ears of the G. A. R. post 







fTS 


4 


%. 


W^ 


f m2 






Y 



Orrin Kathan, Son of Gardner Kathan, Sen. 




George Kathan, Half-Brother of Orrin Kathan. 



THIRD GENERATION. 109 

in Pepperell, Mass., the town where he and his family now reside. 
Their children were: Harriet Emily, born January 27, 1871 ; 
Leonard J., born Alay 25, 1872; W. Herbert, born September 26, 
1874; Frank G., born September 24, 1876, died September 23, 1897; 
Harrv' E., born March 4, 1878; Walter E., born April 26, 1880; 
Frederick M., born April 20. 1882. Mrs. Lynch's brother, Charles 
H. Kathan, was born November 19, 1850. He married a Mrs. Pot- 
ter whose maiden name was Tina Wyman. He is a farmer and 
resides in Westmoreland, N. H. A portrait of George Kathan ap- 
pears m this publication. The original was a miniature taken on 
ivory in New York City. 

Prentice Kathan, 1774-1835. 

Son of John and Lois (]\Ioor) Kathan, married in Bolton, Mass., 
September 11, 1766, and recorded as from "Fullam," now Dum- 
merston, Vt., was born in the old Kathan fort, December 20, 1774. 
He married Eunice, probably daughter of Abijah and Eunice 
Moore, born September 12, 1776, died May 14, 1859. He died at 
Kathan's ferry house in Westmoreland, now called Ware's ferry, 
April 20, 1835, and was buried in the old Kathan cemetery near his 
birthplace. No memorial stone marks his resting place, but a 
cenotaph has been erected in memory of him and his family in the 
cemetery above Ware's ferry in Westmoreland. Children : Char- 
lotte, bom August 15, 1804, died unmarried September 11, 1844; 
Adaline, born June 9, 1817, died August 15, 1819; Almira L., bom 
June 6, 1819, died September 13, 1869; John Alexander, twin 
brother of Almira. 

John Alexander Kathan. 

Was born June 6, 1819, and is now living in Westmoreland. He 
married. May 25, 1846, Fanny E. Barrows, who was bom in West- 
moreland, April 9, 1828. She died July 24, 1898. Their children 
were: Frank A., born in Westmoreland, November 30, 1849, mar- 
ried Clara E., daughter of William Aiken of Westmoreland, 
and lives in that town on the Veazey place; Fred E.. born in 
Walpole, N. H., May 12, 1852, drowned at Walpole, April 13, 1858; 
John W., born in Walpole, July 26. 1854, lives at home with his 
father and is unmarried; Alice C, born in Walpole, Februar}' 28, 



110 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

1859, married Fred R. Randall of Chesterfield in 1879, had five 
children, of whom Harold E. and Maverette A., are living; Ella D., 
born September 6, 1861, died August 24, 1862; Ada C, born in 
Westmoreland, February i, 1866, died October 9, 1898; Flora A., 
born in Westmoreland, June 18, 1868, died October 20, 1889. Mr. 
Kathan is now living in his eighty-third year and is a genial, soci- 
able and well-preserved old gentleman. When the writer and a 
friend called to interview him about his ancestors and his own fam- 
ily, on January 28, 1901, at his home in Westmoreland, which 
is in plain sight of his ancestral home in Dummerston, he 
greeted us cordially, although strangers to him, and said by way of 
introduction : "I know what you fellows called for. You want to 
go fox-hunting." That interview enabled the writer to identify 
Captain John Kathan's fortified house, built in 1752, which, also, 
was the home of his son, John, Jr., born 1732, and of his grandson. 
Prentice, born 1774. The historic old dwelling was pulled down 
about 1830, but its site is plainly visible at the present day. The 
portrait of John Alexander Kathan was contributed for this pub- 
lication by his daughter, Airs. Alice C. Randall, of Chesterfield, 
N. H. 

Real Estate Transactions of Prentice Kathan. 

Prentice Kathan's real estate transactions furnish valuable in- 
formation about the location of family relatives. Hon. Phineas 
White of Putney settled the estate of John Kathan, Jr., who died in 
1802, and the property was divided among his heirs, April 23, 181 1. 
Abel Moore, who married Lois Kathan, sold or quit-claimed to Mr. 
White, for $400, twenty-five acres of the Kathan meadows, August 
12, 1822, which was leased to Moore by Mr. White, April 3, 1819. 
The land was located on the east side of stage road, and the boun- 
dary line began near "Mill brook," so-called. 

Abel Moore then lived on what is now called the E. T. Corser 
place at the foot of "Meadow hill." Moore sold sixteen acres of 
land and his dwelling house thereon, July 2, 1822, to Prentice 
Kathan for $500, "being the same land and house which I now oc- 
cupy in Dummerston ;" "and bounded easterly by the stage road," 
which at that time passed through the Kathan meadows. August 
12, 1822, Mr. Kathan sold fourteen acres of the land "on which the 




John Alexander Kathan, of Westmoreland, N. H. 



THIRD GENERATION. Ill 

Moore house stands," to Phineas White for $500. January 31, 
1825, Mr. Moore sold to Prentice Kathan his homestead, house, 
barn and land, "and is the same on which I now live," for $175, the 
boundary line beginning on the westerly line of the stage road at the 
foot of Meadow hill near the "Gull bridge," so-called. Mr. Kathan 
sold the Moore homestead, October 28, 1825, to Orrin Kathan for 
$175. Orrin Kathan sold the same, November 17, 1827, back to 
Prentice Kathan, and Mr. Kathan resold it the same day to Phineas 
Underwood of New York City for $150. Gardner Kathan sold to 
Timothy Underwood, September 2, 1823, fifteen acres of land for 
$500. In the description of boundary lines are these words: 
"thence westerly on said stage road about thirty rods to a butternut 
tree standing near the north bank of the 'Saw Mill brook' so called," 
which establishes the location of the sawmill built about 1753 by 
Captain John Kathan on "Mill brook." 

Captain John Kathan's Sawmill. 

The mill was the first one erected in Dummerston and was built 
before 1755, as it was burned that year by the Indians who, during 
'that year, made war against the English settlements in New Eng- 
land and, in the following year, were joined by the French, and 
the war continued as the French and Indian w^ar. The fact is men- 
tioned in Hall's History of Eastern Vermont that John Kathan 
"built a good dwelling house and all necessary offices ; also a saw- 
mill and potash works," but the location of the sawmill was not 
known to the writer of these lines until the summer of 1961. An 
examination of the site of the sawmill on Mill brook reveals the 
fact that a pine or hemlock timber with oak pins in it well preserved, 
is still embedded in the brook, and was without doubt the bottom log 
of the dam. The location is. on Mill brook about ten rods above 
the road leading from the main road past the Shepard Gates place. 

February 6, 1829, Prentice Kathan sold a certain piece of land 
for $100, to Phineas Underwood, that was located mostly on the 
westerly side of the stage road, and very little, if any of it, being 
tillage land. It extended southwesterly about eighty rods, thence 
northerly to Putney line ; then west along that line to land of Lyman 
Knight, and southerly as far as land of Shepard Gates ; thence east- 
erly to the river, and northerly to the place of beginning, which was 



112 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

"between the now dwelling house of Gardner Kathan and the now 
dwelling house of Prentice Kathan." This sale was made the year 
before the old fort dwelling was pulled down. Prentice Kathan 
was ferryman at one time of the Kathan ferry for five years. The 
highway as it now runs from the top of Meadow hill south of the 
Corser place, to Putney village, passes through the land which Mr. 
Kathan sold to Mr. Underwood in 1829, and was built in 1845 o^ 
1846, when Amasa Clark was one of the selectmen of Dummerston. 



Chapter X. 
Charles Kathan, Born 1766. 

Was the eldest son of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan. He married, 
about 1788, Lydia Scott of Westmoreland, N. H., who at that time 
was sixteen years of age and her husband twenty-two years. They 
had a family of eleven children: Charles, Jr., born 1789, married 
Sabra McFarland, daughter of Joseph and Sibyl (Tarbel) McFar- 
land, March 29, 181 1 ; Lucy, born (1791), died young; Lydia, bom 
1793, married Charles Davenport, Jr., of Dummerston, September 
6, 1812; Willard, born (1795), died, unmarried; Daniel, born 
(1797), married Phebe Winters; Ruth, born (1799), married Israel 
Smith; Jerusha, born December 29, 1800, married Gardner Kathan 
in 1821 ; Luke, born June 9, 1802, married Freelove Allen ; Polly, 
bom (1804), married George Duell; Ransalier, born (1806), mar- 
ried Sarah Thayer; Susan, born about 1808, died young-. Charles 
Davenport, 88 years old, now living in Chesterfield, N. H., where 
his parents lived many years, is positive that his mother's brothers 
and sisters were all born in Dummerston, although the town records 
do not reveal the fact. 

Dr. Dayton L. Kathan reports in a letter dated June 4, 1901, that 
a recent correspondence with the older members of the Kathan 
families, now living in New York, shows that Charles Kathan, the 
head of these families, was a contractor and did contract work in 
that part of the state to which his family removed from Dummers- 
ton some years afterward. Lieutenant Daniel Kathan, the father 
of Charles, was a house wright as well as farmer. His son probably 
learned tlie same trade of his father and made it his business as a 
contractor to build houses. His name appears in the tax list during 
the first ten years of the last century, but disappears before 1818. 
He was doing contract work for the city of Albany when he was 
accidentally killed and was buried in Greenbush, N. Y., across the 
river from Albany. It was a few years after that event that his 
family moved to New York state. 



114 history of kathan family. 

Charles Kathan, Jr., Born 1789. 

In 1814 he purchased seven and a half acres of land adjoining the 
homestead, and two acres where his parents probably lived many- 
years. In 1806, his father was taxed twenty-six and a half shillings 
on real estate; also in 1810. The name of Charles Kathan, Jr., dis- 
appears from the records after 1817. He removed with his family 
to New York state. The children of Charles and Sabra Kathan 
were: Charles, Jr., born about 1813; Edison (1815) ; James 
(1818) ; Alvira (1820) ; Joseph (1823) ; Stephen (1825) ; Orange 
(1827) ; George (1830) ; Laura (1832) ; Almira (1835). 

Lydia Kathan, 1793- 1862. 

Married Charles, son of Charles and Mary (Hart) Davenport of 
Dummerston. She died in Chesterfield, December 8, 1862, aged 69 
years. Their children were: Charles, born April 7, 1813, married 
Hephzibah Amidon, is now living, 1901, in his 89th year; Adaline, 
born September 6, 1814, married Parker Farr; George, born 1816, 
married Roxana Randall ; Wm. Riley, married Laura Attridge, set- 
tled in Buchanan, Michigan; Austin A., born 1820, married, first, 
Henrietta Chase, second, Martha Archer ; Elvira P., married Oscar 
Hadley of Dummerston ; Jerusha, born February 27, 1825, married, 
1846, Emory H. Colburn, died October 6, 1856; Eliza F., bom May 
10, 1827, married, first, Asa Stoddard, second, Thomas Toby; 
Martha E., bom March 2, 1832, married June 30, 1859, Emory H. 
Colburn ; the youngest, James N., died in infancy. 

WiLLARD Kathan, Born 1795. 

His brothers, Daniel, Luke, Ransalier, and sister, Polly, with 
their families, went to Conklingville in Hadley, Saratoga county, 
New York, December i, 1822. Some of the descendants report 
that these families removed to the town of Day, New York, which 
joins Hadley. Charles, Jr., and Willard went later and settled in a 
neighboring town. Willard never married. He was disappointed 
in some early love afifair, took himself to the woods on the moun- 
tains and lived a secluded life. He made shingles for a living and 
came out into the settlements twice a year to sell the product of his 
labor and purchase the necessaries of life. When he became aged, 



THIRD GENERATION. 115 

his brother Ransaher, who owned a good farm, influenced Willard 
to leave his lonely habitation and live with him, where he spent the 
remainder of his days. 

Daniel Kathan, Born (1797). 

Lived to be.very aged and died in the town of Day, where he had 
lived many years. He had a family of thirteen children : \\'illiam, 
born in 1822, married Wealthy Ovitt; Alonzo, born 1824, married 
Eliza Davenport; Russell, born 1826, died in Canada unmarried; 
Lewis, born 1829, married Sally Springer; Addison, born 1831, 
died unmarried ; Alvira. born 1835, married Joseph Wells ; Robert, 
bom 1840, married Mrs. Stead; Alice, born 1845. married Wyett 
Daniels ; Helena, born 1847, died unmarried ; jNlary, born 1850, mar- 
ried Reuben Wells. 

Luke Kathan, 1802-1881. 

Married Freelove Allen, daughter of David Allen, a Quaker from 
Rhode Island. She was a good wife and mother and lived to be 
90 years old, dying at the home of her daughter in 1898. He was a 
man of unusual intelligence and energy; became very wealthy, 
and was regarded as the most influential man in town. He was a 
strong Repubhcan and controlled the politics of his town. His 
wealth was mainly in land, of which he owned a large amount. He 
died September 30, 1881, aged 79 years. His portrait appears in 
this histor}^ His family numbered fifteen children, all of whom 
lived to be married and raised up large families. Llis children 
were : Caroline, born 1824, married Lyman Frazier ; Emeline, 
born 1826, married Adner Wait; Truman, born 1828, married 
Lucinda Gray; Sarah, born 1830. married Brockholt Wait; Betsey, 
bom 1 83 1, married Josiah Huntoon ; Alvira. born 1832, married 
Otis Elithorpe ; Amy, born 1834, married Vamey Wait; Barbary, 
born 1836, married William Scott ; Mary, born 1837, married John 
W. Wait; Martha, born 1839, married Lewis Wait; Orange, born 
1840, married Frances Howe; Hugh, born 1842, married Rose 
Robinson ; Harmon, born 1844, married ]\Iartha Flansburgh ; 
Monroe, born 1847, married INIary Holeran ; James, born 1850, mar- 
ried Leah Whitney. 



116 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Polly Kathan, Born 1804. 

Married George Duell and had a family of seven children, of 
whom only four names are remembered by Dr. Dayton L. Kathan : 
Meritt, born 1835, married Lucine Mosher; Mary Ann, born 1838; 
Maria, bom 1840, married Jewett Ovitt ; Harriet, born 1844. 

Ransalier Kathan, Born 1806. 

Married Sarah Thayer and settled on a farm near Conklingville, 
N. Y., which he occupied for sixty-eight years. In connection with 
his farm work, he ran a sawmill many years. He was a good man, 
an active, intelligent and obliging citizen, and reared a family of ten 
children: Isaac, born 1835, married Emily Mosher; John, born 
1838, married Keziah Rice; Charles, born 1840, married Melvina 
Wait; Diana, born 1843, married Randolph Carpenter; Adaline, 
born 1845, married Allen Carpenter; Myra, born 1847, unmarried; 
Henry, bom 1849, married Miss Clute; Libbie, bom 1850, unmar- 
ried. These children live for the most part in eastern and northern 
New York. 

Truman Kathan, Born 1828, 

Whose portrait appears in this history, married Lucinda Gray 
and lives at Ballston Spa, New York. He is a shrewd business 
man, has accumulated a large fortune and owns a large amount of 
real estate. His family numbers twelve children : Wallace, born 
1850, married Caroline Rollman ; Lydia, bom 1851, married George 
Mosher; Luke, born 1852, married Ida Freeman; Clark, born 1854, 
married Grace Cook; Dayton L., born 1856, married Anna Banker 
Meeker; Freelove, born 1858, died young; Fred, born i860, died 
young; Hamlin, bom 1862, died young; Jennie, bora 1864, married 
Charles Grose; Frank, bom 1866, married Elizabeth Coyne; Sher- 
man, born 1868, married Carrie Whitbeck; Lucy, born 1871, mar- 
ried Benjamin Jenkins. 

Wallace Kathan, Born 1850. 

Resides in Conklingville, town of Hadley, N. Y., and has a 
family of two children : Dudley, a physician practicing in the town 
of Corinth, N. Y., and Rutherford, who is studying law at Albany. 



I 




Truman Kathan, Father of Dr. D. L. Kathan. 



/ 




Dayton L. Kathan, M. D., of Schenectady, N. Y. 



third generation. 117 

Lydia Kathan, Born 185 i, 

And her husband, George Aloshcr, are not living, but left a 
family of several children. 

Luke Kathan, Born 1852. 

Resides in Bradford, Pa., is a business man and has two chil- 
dren, a son and a daughter. 

Clark Kathan, Born 1854. 

Graduated from the University of Nebraska, a Ph. D., and is a 
successful minister of the gospel in one of the A\' estern states. 

Dayton L. Kathan, Born 1856. 

Studied medicine and is a physician practicing in Schenectady, a 
city in eastern New York numbering 13,655 inhabitants in 1890. 
He became interested three years ago in looking up the history of 
his ancestors on the Kathan side, and visited in Dummerston for the 
purpose of ascertaining the parentage of his grandfather, Luke 
Kathan, born in Dummerston in 1802. It was a difficult problem in 
genealogy to solve, for the reason that the land records revealed 
nothing and no register of the family was made on the town rec- 
ords. None of the descendants had any family record further back 
than Luke Kathan, and no person could be found who remembered 
the parentage of Luke and his ten brothers and sisters born in 
Dummerston. The problem was not solved for many months. 
Several clues were obtained but the right name was not found until 
it was discovered a few months ago among the baptisms on the 
church records for 1779. Doctor Kathan contributes three portraits 
for the Kathan History. Llis line of descent is as follows : 
Dayton'^' L. (Truman\ Luke*, Charles", Lieutenant Daniel", Captain 
John^). He has only one child, a son named Roland. 

Jennie Kathan, Born 1864. 

Alarried Charles Grose, who is the editor and proprietor of the 
Ballston Daily and Weekly Journal at Ballston Spa, New York. 



118 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

They have two children, a son and a daughter. The mother's 
name is written Jenna, on the record. 

Frank Kathan, Born 1866. 

Married Ehzabeth Coyne, and is a prosperous farmer hving in 
Conkhngville, N. Y. They have only one child, a daughter. 

Sherman Kathan, Born 1868. 

Studied medicine and is a practicing physician in Dunkirk, New 
York. 

Lucy Kathan, Born 1871. 

Married Benjamin Kenkins, a woolen manufacturer at Conk- 
lingville, New York. They have only one child, a daughter named 
Helena. 

Caroline Kathan, Born 1824. 

Daughter of Luke and Freelove Kathan, married Lyman Frazier 
and has a family of fourteen children, most of whom are living in 
Saratoga county, New York. Her sister, Emeline, born 1826, had 
four children; Sarah, born 1830, had eight children; Betsey, born 
1831, had eight children; Alvira, born 1832, had eight children; 
Amy, born 1834, had ten children ; Barbary, born 1836, had six chil- 
dren ; Mary, born 1837, had ten children ; Martha, born 1839, had 
one child ; Orange, born 1840, had four children ; Hugh, born 1842, 
had one child; Harmon, Monroe and James, not reported. 

From a Saratoga county paper : 

"Left y'j Grandchildren, also ioi Great-Grandchildren and 
Three Great-Great-Grandchildren. 

"Saratoga, N. Y., June 12, [1898]. — ]\Irs. Freelove Kathan, wid- 
ow of Luke Kathan, wdio died in her ninetieth year a few days ago 
at her home in Conklingville, Saratoga county, was the mother of 
six sons and nine daughters, all of whom reached married life and 
eleven of whom are now living. She had 102 grandchildren, 
seventy-seven of whom are living; loi great-grandchildren, all now 
living, and three great-great-grandchildren, all of whom survive 
her. Four generations of her descendants were represented at her 



THIRD GENERATION. 119 

funeral. She married at the age of fifteen. Her father, David 
Allen, was born in Rhode Island, and he died at the age of 95 
years. Her mother died at the age of 70 years. Her parents had 
eleven children, all of whom married, and had ninety-six grand- 
children, more than 100 great-grandchildren, and seven great-great- 
grandchildren wdien they died. ]\Irs. Kathan's oldest child [Caro- 
line] is 74 years old and the youngest [Jamesj is 48." 

The portrait of "Uncle" Luke Kathan, and his family record, as 
reported by his grandson. Dr. Dayton L. Kathan of Schenectady, 
New York, appears on another page of this volume. 

Daniel Kathan, Jr., 1776-1842. 

He was son of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan and married, October 
2T,, 1800, Fanny Haven, born in Dummerston, April 18, 1783, and 
daughter of Abel and Rachel (French) Haven. Her sister, Lydia, 
married Rodolphus Scott of Chesterfield, X. H., a brother of Lydia 
Scott, who married Charles Kathan, eldest son of Lieutenant Daniel 
Kathan. Daniel, Jr., settled in Canada, where he died in 1842, and 
was buried in Compton, P. O. His daughter, now living, states 
that she remembered hearing him say that his grandfather. Captain 
John Kathan, and one brother came to America in war time, and 
that his uncle, Charles Kathan, once kept a hotel in Dunham, P. Q. 

The children of Daniel and Fanny (Haven) Kathan were: Fanny, 
born ]}.Iarch 23, 1801, married Freeman Haskell, died and was 
buried at Derby Line, Vt. ; Maria, born January 8, 1803, married 
a Haskell; Lavinia,born August 8, 1806, was twice married; Louisa, 
March 6, 1808; Hollis, born September 25, 181 1; Caroline, born 
August 3, 1819, married John Elliot and is living in Coaticoke, 
Quebec. 

Charles H. Kathan. 

]\Ierchant in Derby Line, Vt., is the only child of Hollis Kathan, 
who married, in 1832, Susan W. Lord, of Morgan, Vt. They 
moyed to Compton, Province of Quebec, in 1833, where their son, 
Charles H., was born April 3, 1835. His father died in Rockland, 
Maine, in 1858. His mother died at Rock Island, P. Q., October 10, 
1899, aged 87 years. Mr. Kathan went to Rock Island, September 
5, 1850, and became a clerk in a store for E. F. Haskell and was 



120 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

admitted as a partner April 5, 1856, under the firm name of Haskell 
& Kathan. Mr. Haskell died in July, 1865, and Mr. Kathan bought 
out his partner's interest in April, 1866, and has been alone in the 
business since that time, as a dealer in general merchandise. He is 
much interested in the history of his ancestors and contributed 
money to pay for two of the portraits which appear in this volume. 

Mayor of Rock Island, P. Q. 

The Sherbrooke Daily Record published in Sherbrooke, Que- 
bec, December 17, 1901, contains the information that the village 
of Rock Island was incorporated a municipality May 19, 1892. 
The first council elected included among its officers Charles H. 
Kathan as mayor, and he is the only one of the first councillors who 
was still a member of the board in 1901. Mayor Kathan is a gen- 
eral merchant of Rock Island and was born at Moe's River April 
3, 1835. In 1897, he completely reconstructed his store, and it is 
now one of th.e most modern in the township. Mr. Kathan has 
held and still holds many important public offices. He is a director 
of the Eastern Townships Bank, commissioner of the Superior 
Court, and director of the Massawippi Valley Railway. He was a 
warden of the county from 1894 to 1898 and has been mayor of 
Rock Island since the municipality was formed. 




Charles H. Kathan, Mayor of Rock Island, P. Q. 



Chapter XL 

Jesse and Joanna Frost. 

They were the parents of Benjamin and Jacob Frost of Dum- 
merston, who married daughters of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan, 
Jesse Frost resided in Brattleboro and was born in Billerica, Mass., 
March 9, 1735, married May 6, 1760, Joanna Spaulding, of Chelms- 
ford, born March 29, 1739, and sister of Lieutenant Leonard 
Spaulding of Dummerston. She died in November, 1834, aged 95 
years. His death is not recorded, but he died before 181 8. Just 
what time Jesse Frost settled in Brattleboro is not known, but an 
old deed shows that he was there previous to 1770. He purchased 
a farm of Lemuel Kendrick, which has been in the possession of the 
family ever since. His son, William, came into possession of the 
property in 1801, married Susannah Mann, and had one son, Zenas, 
and three daughters. James B. Frost, son of Zenas, was born Feb- 
ruary 8, 1835, married Lucy C. Burnap of Newfane, Vt., March 29, 
1857. In 1871 he took legal possession of the ancestral homestead, 
although he had always, resided thereon. Its location is near the 
well-known "Bliss Farm." The children of Jesse and Joanna Frost 
were: Jesse, born September 6, 1762; Joanna, born July 9, 1764; 
Ira, bom April 9, 1767; William, born March 26, 1769; Olive, born 
August 19, 1771 ; Joseph, born March 3, 1774; Benjamin, born 
October 26, 1776; Jacob, bom December 8, 1780. 

Benjamin Frost, 1776-1858. 

Married Lydia Kathan, October 25, 1801, who was born July 8, 
1780, and died April 19, 1854. He died February 2, 1858. Six of 
their eight children were bom in Dummerston but were not regis- 
tered on the town records. A grandson, Charles Smith Frost, of 
Saxton's River, Vt., has kindly funished the family record from a 
framed cardboard in his possession, the names and dates of births 
having been worked into it with worsted. It is not known who did 
it, but it has been in the family a long time. Almira, born January 
I, 1802, died September 2, 1802, and was buried in the East Dum- 
merston cemetery. Benjamin, born June 18, 1804, married Phebe 
Ann Smith; Orilla, born October 6, 1806. died December 10, 1828; 



122 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Maria, bom November 14, 1808, died August 5, 1809, buried in 
the East Dummerston cemetery; Horace, born June 27, 1810, died 
January 11, 1900, aged 89 years, 6 months; Nelson, born October 
31, 1812; Lysander, born October 22, 1818. died August 19, 1837; 
Olira j\I., born January 28, 1822, died December 11, 1836. Ben- 
jamin and Lydia Frost resided on the Lieutenant Daniel Kathan 
farm until 1816, when he sold his half of the estate and removed to 
Vernon. His brother Jacob sold the other half of the Kathan estate 
and also removed to Vernon, where he and his brother lived to- 
gether in the same house until the oldest children were ready to 
seek employment away from home. Olive Frost, sister of Ben- 
jamin and Jacob, married, January 11, 1802, Peter Willard of Dum- 
merston, who lived many years on the well-known Samuel Wheeler 
farm. He was a blacksmith and innkeeper. Their children were 
Jesse, Miranda, Ephraim, Nelson, and Chauncey. His wife, Olive, 
died and he married, second, Isabel Houghton, of Brattleboro in 
November, 1828. 

Benjamin Frost, Jr., married Phebe Ann Smith and their chil- 
dren were: Benjamin Smith Frost, born September 16, 1837, died 
July 31, 1838; Maria Smith Frost, September 10, 1839; Charles 
Smith Frost, born May 20, 1844; Henry Smith Frost, born Septem- 
ber 16, 1846. 

jNIaria Smith Frost married General Franklin G. Butterfield, 
June I, 1866. He was son of David and Almira (Randall) Butter- 
field of Rockingham, Vt., and is now a resident of Derby Line, Vt., 
and a manufacturer of stocks and dies and solid die plates. Their 
children are: Benjamin Frost Butterfield, born April 25, 1867; 
and Esther Almira Butterfield, born August 4, 1871. 

Charles Smith Frost married Corona Walker and they have two 
children, Cordelia W., born November 15, 1873, and Phebe Anna, 
born June i, 1879. 

Henry S. Frost married, June i, 1868, Flora E. Campbell, daugh- 
ter of Dr. Daniel and Julia A. (Hall) Campbell of Saxton's River, 
and their children were : Julia Ann, born May 27, 1871 ; Henry C, 
born April 30, 1873, died young; Alice C, born November 10, 1880; 
Daniel C, born October 23, 1882, died June 17, 1883; Charles C, 
born March i, 1885; Flora May, born November i, 1886; Edith 
Maria, born July 8, 1889. 

Julia Ann Frost married January 7, 1892, Fred Starkey Cole, 



FROST FAMILIES. 123 

who died September 28, 1893. His daughter, Fredcrica Frost Cole, 
was bom April 18, 1894. 

Benjamin Frost, Jr., and his brother, Horace went to Saxton's 
River and followed the trade of shoemaking. Horace Frost mar- 
ried Amanda Bailey of Saxton's River in June, 1839, and went im- 
mediately to Rochester, Wisconsin, and remained during life. He 
died there at the age of 88 years. 

Nelson Frost moved from Grafton, Vt., to Minnesota. 

Orilla Frost died in Vernon and was buried in that town. Nel- 
son moved with his father's family to Chesterfield, N. H., where 
Lysander and Olira died. From that place they moved to West 
Brattleboro for a short time ; thence to Grafton, Vt. Lydia Kathan, 
wife of Benjamin Frost, died in Grafton, after which he went to 
Saxton's River and lived with his son Benjamin, Jr., where he 
died and was buried beside his wife. 

Jacob Frost, 1780- 1870, 

And Dolly Kathan were married and lived in Dummerston on 
one-half of the Lieutenant Daniel Kathan farm several years until 
their removal to Vernon in 1816. Fie was born in Brattleboro, 
December 8, 1780, and died in Vernon, February 20, 1870, aged 89 
years. Dolly Kathan was born in Dummerston, August 19, 1786, 
and died in Vernon, December 8, 1867, aged 81 years. Mr. Frost 
always lived on the farm which he bought when he first moved to 
Vernon. Their children were : Almira, born in Springfield, Vt., 
July 28, 1807, died in Vernon, October 17, 1822 ; Lavinia, born in 
Springfield, June 30, 1809, married Alonzo Newton and spent all 
her married life in Vernon, where she died. They had five children. 
Jacob Frost removed to Dummerston and on September 4, 1809, 
bought the southern half of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan's estate, in- 
cluding half the house. His third child, Jesse, was bom in Dum- 
merston, July 14, 181 1, married Sophia Tyler and had a family of 
five children. He died in Vernon, ]\Iarch 1 1, 1882, aged 70 years, 7 
months, 27 days. Eliza, born May 31, 1815, married Eastman 
Belding and lived in Northfield, ]\Iass., during her married life until 
about three years ago. She is now living with her son in Fitch- 
burg, Mass. They had five children. Fannie, born in Vernon, 
May 26, 1818, married Erastus Hubbard, January i, 1839, and had 
three children. She married, second, Reuben Demming Stevens in 



124 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

June, 1852, and had three children by the second marriage. Her 
home has always been in Vernon. In recent years she spends her 
winters in Brattleboro with her daughter, Ella Stevens Barber, wife 
of George F. Barber, D. D. S., in that village. 

Jacob and Dolly Kathan Frost are remembered by those who 
knew them, as very meritorious persons. Mrs. Frost is spoken of 
as a bright, active, energetic woman. Julia S. Frost, her grand- 
daughter, now living in Worcester, Mass., has in her possession her 
grandmother's reading book, "The American Preceptor," worn by 
her use in the Dummerston school near the home of her parents. 
On a "fly leaf" she had written, "Dolly Kathan is my name — Amer- 
ica my nation — Dummerston my dwelling place — Peace, and I hope 
Christ, will be my salvation." Mrs. George F. Barber has been in- 
strumental in securing the means to furnish the portraits of her 
, worthy grandparents for the Kathan History. Joanna Frost, born 
July 9, 1764, and sister of Jacob Frost, married, about 1783, Joshua 
Bemis, a Revolutionary soldier. Their children were, Joanna and 
Abigail (twins), born 1785; Polly, Bezina, Ira, Stephen, Olive, 
Sibyl, Ira 2d, Betsey and Beman. 

Nathaniel French and Jesse Frost, Allied by Marriage. 

Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Frost) French, who were the parents of 
William French, killed at Westminster, March 13, 1775, came to 
Brattleboro from Billerica, Mass. Jesse Frost was born in Biller- 
ica, March 9, 1735, and settled in Brattleboro near Mr. French. 
Elizabeth Frost was born August 31, 1722, and was evidently a sis- 
ter of Jesse Frost. Their parents were William and Elizabeth 
(Wilson) Frost. He was born September 4, 1694, married Elizabeth 
Wilson in 1721, died in 1738. His father was James Frost, born 
July 7, 1662, married Hannah (maiden name unknown). The 
father of James, was James, born April 9, 1640, married Rebecca 
Hamlet, who died July 20, 1666. He died August 12, 1711. Eliza- 
beth Wilson's father was John Wilson, born January 3, 1672-3, 
married Elizabeth Foster, born October 7, 1673. His father, John, 
married Joanna (maiden name unknown). Elizabeth Foster's 
father was Deacon Joseph Foster, born March 28, 1650, died 
December 4, 1721. He married Alice Gorton, who was baptized 
March 8, 1652, died May 17, 1712. Her parents were John and 
Mary Gorton. 



APPENDIXES. 

Appendix A. 

In Early Marriages of Massachusetts, Worcester County, page 

43- appear the following: "John Katherin of 11am [Fullam] 

and Lois Moor in Bolton, September ii, 1766." Same book, page 
59: "Alexander Kathan and Margaret Beard, married in Leices- 
ter, December 4, 1755." 

In Concord Records, page 372: "Mary Kathrens married 
Samuel Hoar. February 14, 1819, both of Concord. Also, Robert 
Cathrens of Boston married, July 7, 1799, Mary Meriam of Con- 
cord." Page 334: "Robert Kathrens, husband of Marv, died in 
Concord, Aug. 14, 1814, aged 44 years, 6 months, 3 days."' 

Genealogical Register, 1879, page 29: "Mary (Hart) Daven- 
port, widow of Charles Davenport, whom she married in Worcester, 
April 16, 1755, married, second, in Dummerston, Vt., Alexander 
Katern." Genealogical Register, 1894, page 430: "Lieutenant 
Samuel Kathrens, British soldier, 26th Regiment, serving in 
America, December 7, 1764." 

In Collections of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 12, 
page 154: "John Kathan, son of Alexander and Elizabeth, born 
October 15, 1758. Molly, same parents, born November 21. 1756." 
Elizabeth should read Margaret. October 15 should be October 
12, and November 21 should be October 8. 

Appendix B. 

Photographic View of The Kathan Meadows Showing 
Location of First Settlement in Dummerston. 

The photograph was taken in June, 1900, from a standpoint in the 
highway about one mile and a quarter south of Putney village. 
The group of buildings at the upper end of the meadows includes 
the Putney railroad station, sheds, and a few dwelling houses. The 
site of the Kathan fort is close to the barn seen on the right of the 
picture and opposite "Bemas rock," a prominent ledge extending 



126 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

out into the river from the Vermont side. The dwelhng house on 
the left nearest the station was the home of John C. Phillips, killed 
at Windsor, Vt., April 27, 1895, by jumping from a passenger train 
at the station before the cars stopped running. The small dwelling 
seen farthest to the left of the station, was the home of Gardner 
Kathan, Sen., who died in 1813. The Kathan cemetery is located 
on a small upland plain a few rods back of the Gardner Kathan 
house. The old stage road of Revolutionary times passed between 
the Fort and the river, thence obliquely across the meadows to the 
western side, past the Johnson house and the home of Abel Moore, 
now the Corser place, up "Meadow hill" and on across the plain 
where Alexander Kathan settled in 1761. "Mill brook," on which 
Captain John Kathan built his sawmill, flows across the lower end 
of the meadows and empties into the Connecticut at a point plainly 
seen in the picture. The railroad across the meadows was built in 
1850 and opened to the public in 185 1. It was then called the 
Vermont Valley, but is now the Boston & Maine. The first agent 
at the Putney station was Marshall Pierce, now living in his nine- 
tieth year, whose residence is only a few rods to the right of the 
station. June i, 185 1, was the date of his selling the first ticket 
and making out the first freight bill. Mr. Pierce is a hale, hearty 
and well-preserved old gentleman, and gave the writer a good de- 
scription of the Kathan fort as he saw it before its demolition in 
1830. It was a gambrel-roof structure, one story and a half high, 
and stood facing the old stage road. The site of the fort was point- 
ed out to the writer, June 27, 1901, by Mr. Pierce, and the location 
is between the railroad track and his barn seen in the illustration. 
The fort dwelling was sold by Prentice Kathan, February 6, 1829, 
to Phineas Underwood, wdio pulled down the building and moved 
the barn down to his place at the lower end of the meadows. 

Harper's Monthly Magazine published, in the summer of 185 1, a 
sketch and engraving of the Kathan meadows and surrounding 
country, and described the locality as one of the finest landscape 
views in the valley of the Connecticut. The northerly trending 
uplands are in Putney and Westmoreland. The long line of New 
Hampshire hills meets the skyline in the distance eastward and they 
are separated from the green hills of Vermont by the gleaming 
waters of the Connecticut, the largest river in New England. 
Sackett's brook, which flows through Putney village and across the 



APPENDIX B. 127 

upper end of the Kathan meadows, was evidently so named by Cap- 
tain John Kathan, at the time of his settlement in 1752, from the fol- 
lowing circumstance : Soon after Colonel Israel Williams of Hat- 
field, Mass., had entered upon his duties as superintendent of the 
defence of this portion of the country. Captain Humphrey Hobbs, 
with forty men, was ordered from Number Four, Charlestown, N. 
H., to Fort Shirley, in Heath, one of the forts of the Massachusetts 
cordon. Their route lay through the w^oods down the valley of the 
Connecticut, undoubtedly on the Vermont side. On the second day 
of their march, they crossed the brook in Putney and traveled in 
the direction of Heath, jNIass. On the third day, which was Sun- 
day, June 26, 1748, they traveled six miles further and halted at a 
place about twelve miles northwest of Fort Dummer, in the pre- 
cincts of what is now the town of Marlboro, Vt. A large body of 
Indians, about one hundred sixty in number, in command of a 
resolute chief named Sackett, who had discovered Hobbs's trail, 
made a rapid march in order to cut him oft. Although Hobbs was 
not aware of the pursuit of the enemy, he had circumspectly posted 
a guard on his trail, and his men spread themselves over a low 
piece of ground, covered with alders, and intermixed with large 
trees, and watered by a rivulet, prepared and were eating their din- 
ner, when the rear guards were driven in from their posts, wdiich 
was the first intimation given of the nearness of the enemy. With- 
out knowing the strength of his adversaries. Captain Hobbs instant- 
ly formed his men for action, each one. by his advice, selecting a 
tree as a cover. The action continued four hours, Hobbs's party dis- 
playing throughout the most consummate skill and prudence, and 
neither side withdrawing an inch from its original situation. Find- 
ing Hobbs determined on resistance, and that his own men had 
sufifered severely in the struggle, Sackett finally ordered a retreat, 
and left his opponent master of a well-fought field. Hobbs's men 
were so well protected, that only three, Ebenezer Mitchel, Eli Scott, 
and Samuel Gunn, were killed in the confiict. Of the remainder, 
Daniel McKinney, Samuel Graves, Jr., Nathan Walker, and Ralph 
Rice were wounded. This battle was regarded by the people in the 
vicinity as a masterpiece of persevering bravery, and served, to cer- 
tain extent, to remove the unfavorable impression produced by the 
defeat of Captain Eleazer Melvin's scout of nineteen men. May 31, 
1748, thirty-three miles from Fort Dummer, up West river. "If 



128 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Hobb's men had been Romans," observes one writer, ''they would 
have been crowned with laurel and their names would have been 
transmitted with perpetual honor to succeeding generations."* 

Note. — Some thirtv acres of the northeastern corner of the 
Kathan meadows was ceded to Putney by the legislature in 1846; 
and, also a narrow strip on the lower road leading from the station 
to Putney village in 1892. 

Appendix C. 

Alexander Kathan's Maple Sugar Orchard — Oldest in the 

State. 

The number of its gigantic, old-growth maple trees, standing in 
190 1, is less than thirty, the largest of which measures more than 
six feet in diameter. The illustration accompanying this sketch 
shows only five of these monarchs of the forest, including the 
largest one in the lot. The home of Alexander Kathan is seen in 
the distance across the cultivated field. The view was taken in the 
summer of 1901. In 1858 one of the large maples was cut down 
and the rings of annual growth indicated that nearly a century had 
passed since it was first "boxed" for sap to flow in the sugaring sea- 
son. 

The boxing was done with an axe, and a gouge was used to 
form a place for the sap to flow through a wooden spout. A sec- 
tion of the wood taken from the tree has been preserved as a relic 
of the olden process of sugar-making. The scar made in boxing 
the trees resembles the form of a capital letter Y. Sap was caught 
in troughs generally made of maple, sometimes of bass wood, split 
into halves, dug out with an axe and finished with the gouge. At 
the close of the season they were turned over or set up against the 
tree to await the coming of the next sugar season, and were beHeved 
to be well protected. Sixty-five years ago a three-fourths inch 
auger was used in tapping ; and to induce an abundant flow of sap, 
it was bored into the tree about four inches. The larger the auger 
and the deeper the hole, the more sap was expected to be discharged. 
The spouts were made of sumach, when it could be found, and 
varied in length from six to fifteen inches or more, to match different 



*HalI's History of Eastern Vermont. Hoyt's Indian Wars, pp. 240-251. Dwight's 
Travels, ii, 81. 



APPENDIX D. 129 

distances at which troughs had to be set to avoid obstacles. Before 
the three-fourths inch auger came into use, the practice to "box" 
the tree was to form a reservoir that would hold a half-pint, from 
which the sap was drawn out into the trough. This appears to 
have been the original method of extracting sap from the sugar 
maple. The reservoir was formed with a gouge. Armed with this 
and an axe and mallet, our ancestors of a centur)- ago went into 
the forest with courage and patience to compel the maple to dis- 
charge its sweet treasure. The sugar maker, as no better method 
was known, was content to pursue it, and "happy that he knew no 
more." But neither the gouge nor the three-fourths inch auger 
mduced a larger flow of sap than a three-eighths inch bit bored into 
the tree two inches. The sugar house, with its conveniences and 
protection from wind and storm, was not among the dreams of the 
boxer sugar-maker. Sky and cloud were the onlv protection 
Between two posts, iron kettles in which to boil the sap were sus- 
pended upon chains fastened to a pole above. If a sugar-maker 
of a century ago could now come among us in this first year of the 
twentieth century, he would be astonished at seeing the wonderful 
change in the manufacture and appearance of maple sugar. 

Appendix D. 

Alexander Kathan's Famous Gun. 

Mr. Kathan bought the gun in Worcester, Mass., in 1756, where 
he resided with his family a few years before removing to Duni- 
merston in 1761. Three of his children, Mary, John and Daniel, 
were born in Worcester, and Thomas was born in Dummerston, 
April 30, 1764. His gun, which measures over six feet in length, 
served him a good purpose in those early times as a weapon of^de- 
fence against the attacks of wolves and bears, and attracted no 
more attention than any long gun until after he took it with him to 
Westminster on Alarch 13, 1775, to help maintain the peace of the 
community and the dignity of the court assembled there at that 
time. During the excitement which followed the killing of Wil- 
liam French on tliat occasion and mortally wounding Daniel Hough- 
ton of Dummerston, Air. Kathan was deprived of his gun by Dr. 
Harvey's Committee of Inspection to observe the "Conduct of the 



130 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

inhabitants agreeable to an order from the Right Honorable Con- 
tinental Congress," because they suspected it contained a ball more 
friendly to the King than to the Congress. At a town meeting 
held in Dummerston, May i6, 1775, his political enemies were 
overthrown by the vote of his townsmen "that Elexander Kathon 
Should have his gun." That circumstance made the gun of much 
value as a Revolutionary relic, and as an heirloom of the family it 
has been handed down from generation to generation unto the pres- 
ent day. J\lr. Kathan willed the gun to his son Thomas, and he be- 
queathed it in a will dated September 7, 1829, to his nephew, John 
Kathan, Jr., whose portrait appears in this volume. His son, 
George Frank Kathan, was the owner of the gun until 1886, when 
he gave it to his nephew, Myron F. Button, and it is still in his pos- 
session. The gun is identified by the name Alexander Kathan, which 
he had engraved on a silver plate embedded in the stock. It was 
changed from a flintlock to a percussion lock in 1850. His powder 
horn, a cotemporary relic of the old gun, is shown in the illustra- 
tion, and bears the name Alexander Kathan, carved by his hand in 
the wooden base of the horn. Reid Alexander Kathan, a great- 
great-great grandson of Alexander Kathan, Esq., and a wealthy 
merchant of New York City, has a strong desire to gain possession 
of the historic gun and lives in hope that some day Mr. Button will 
relinquish it, if money can purchase a valuable heirloom. 

Appendix E. 

BUMMERSTON MeN WoUNDED IN ThE AfFRAY AT WESTMINSTER, 

March 13, 1775. 

Lieutenant Leonard Spaulding was the first man here to start 
with his gun for the fight at Westminster. He was knocked down 
and wounded in that skirmish. Soon afterwards he joined the 
army and served during the Revolutionary war. He died July 17, 
1788, aged fifty-nine years. No memorial stone marks his burial 
place. Captain Jonathan Knight received a charge in his right 
shoulder, and carried one of the buckshot in his body forty-four 
years. He died March 13, 1819, aged eighty-seven years. Baniel 
Houghton, son of Baniel Houghton of Bolton, Mass., was mor- 
tally wounded and survived only nine days. He died March 22, 



APPENDIX F. 



131 



1775, aged twenty years. John Hooker, another brave man es- 
caped with the loss of the sole of his boot, which was raked off 
by a chance shot of the enemy. He removed from Dummerston 
and with his relatives, Reverious Hooker and Ruel Hooker became 
the first settlers of the township of Acton in 1780, but soon returned 
to their homes in Townshend, where John Hooker located after 
leaving- Dummerston. Acton became a part of Townshend in 
1840. Joseph Temple escaped a bullet wound bv means of a 
novel life-preserver, a quart pewter basin in which he carried his 
food. It was struck twice by bullets which left their marks upon 
It. It was kept as a relic in the family of his descendants many 
years, but finallv found its way into the cart of a tin peddler Mr 
Temple ^^•as knocked down in the affray and, for a time, was sup- 
posed to be dead. His skull was fractured on the left side of the 
forehead, and the scar remained during life. He died March 2^ 
1832, aged eighty-eight years. 

Appendix F. 

Complaint Against Captain Nathan Willard of Fort Dum- 
MER Signed by Captain John Kathan and Ten Other 
Persons, May 17, 1756. 

The General Court of Massachusetts was memorialized in these 
words : — 

"The command being given to Nathan Willard— we will a little 
acquaint your honours of the managements and carrvings on in said 
fort, and that in several articles, and, 

_ "First; as to all the Willards swearing against the province in 
tavor of New Hampshire. 

"Secondly; as to their selling the province stores, both of powder 
and lead to Hampshire forts, as also to Hampshire soldiers. 

"Thirdly; as to the province guns lying about in ve said fort 
the locks in one place and the barrels in another and two or three 
of them that are half eat up with rust. 

"And as your honours have been pleased to allow nine men to 
that fort until ye loth day of next June, under the command of 
Captam Nathan Willard, he has put in Oliver W^illard Wilder 
Willard, William Willard, and as there are four large Province 



132 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Houses in ye fort, these four Willards have each of them a house. 

"And as Captain Nathan Willard has a large province house to 
himself, and has turned all the rest of the families into two small 
rooms, in which families are five soldiers ; — for by repairing the 
province houses a little, makes them their own. 

"And as there are four acres of land allowed in ye Hampshire 
charter for the benefit of ye said fort, they keep all the land to 
themselves, and will allow but a small garden spot to the rest of 
the soldiers, — as their treatment of ye soldiers, and ye distressed 
inhabitants who are obliged to flee thither for shelter in these dis- 
tressed times, with us, we have thought fit to make ye above rep- 
resentation of facts, which we are ready to prove true. 

"Our distresses are great for which we begg your honours com- 
passionate consideration, and relief, and as in duty bound shall 
ever pray." 

The petition was doubtless answered to the satisfaction of those 
who presented it. 

Appendix G. 
Jonas Moore's House Sacked. 

He was the second son of Captain Fairbanks ]\Ioor and was 
born October 6, 1725, married Dinah Whitcomb in Bolton, Mass., 
November 24, 1747, and probably settled in Putney not long after 
the death of his father. He was a resident there in 1768 and was 
one of four families then living east of the mouth of Sackett's 
brook, near Captain Kathan's, on a farm where Abel Hubbard lived 
in 1825. Leonard Spaulding, Fairbanks Moor and Samuel Allen 
were his near neighbors. At the June term of the Inferior Court 
of Common Pleas, in the year 1771, Jonas Moore recovered judg- 
ment against Leonard Spaulding of the same place to the amount of 
forty pounds, including costs. A writ to recover the damages 
was issued to satisfy the judgment, and the sheriff by his deputy 
seized some of Spaulding's effects and placed them in the charge 
of Moore, who was instructed to keep them at his house until the 
day appointed by the sheriff for their sale. Meantime, on Jan- 
uary 2^, 1772, a party of persons, numbering seventy or eighty, 
crossed over the Connecticut from New Hampshire, and going in 



APPENDIX H. 133 

the evening to the house where the goods were deposited, broke 
open the door, seized upon and carried them away, and at the 
same time insulted Moore's family in various ways. Before war- 
rants for the arrest of the ringleaders of the disturbance had been 
issued, five of the principal rioters confessed their guilt, and 
before the jury inquiry was concluded they satisfied judgment 
and made ample satisfaction to all persons who had been injured 
by them. Spaulding settled on land known in late years as the 
Deacon Jones farm. His house was burned late in the fall of 
1771, and he did not rebuild but bought a farm in Westmoreland, 
N, H., where he remained less than a year and removed to Dum- 
merston. 

Appendix H. 
Fairbanks Moore, Jr. 

He and his wife, Esther Kathan, were residing in Fort Dummer 
as early as May 29, 175 1, or nearly a year before her father, 
Captain John Kathan, settled in Dummerston. They had a 
daughter baptized at Fort Dummer, May 29, 175 1, and settled in 
Walpole, N. H., in 1752, the same year her father located in Dum- 
merston. They had a son, Fairbanks, born in Walpole about 1753, 
and a son, Benjamin, born about 1755. They moved from Wal- 
pole in 1756, when only six families were residing in the town, 
and settled in Putney near Kathan's fort, and the same year had 
a son, Oliver, who was baptized at Fort Dummer, November 26, 
1756, and the mother on November 28, of the same month and 
year, was admitted to the church in Northfield, Mass. They had 
another child baptized in February, 1758. During the next ten 
years of residence in Putney there is no record of any more chil- 
dren born in that town, but there may have been others, of whom 
Newell Moore, born 1767, may have been one, as his family were 
buried in the old Kathan cemetery. Fairbanks Moore, Jr., 
removed from Putney to Rockingham, Vt., before 1771, as his 
name does not appear in the census of Putney taken April 23, 
1771. His home was on the farm where Timothy Underwood 
lived in 1808. 

"Samuel son of Fairbanks & Esther Moors, was baptized Novem- 
ber 20, 1773. Lucinda, February 20, 1776, baptized at their 



I 



134 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

house, being sick. She died October 30, 1777. Lucinda, second. 
was baptized July 4, 1779." Rockingham church records. 

It is recorded in Rockingham town records that Fairbanks 
Moore and Fairbanks Moore, Jr., took the oath of allegiance, 
June 23, 1777, and the latter was "in the list of those that had Reed 
powder & ball that marcht for Ticonderoga and Manchester," in 
Captain Josiah Wood's company.* Fairbanks Moore, Jr., must 
have been a grandson of Captain Fairbanks and Judith (Bellows) 
Moor. Among the first adventurers and proprietors of the town- 
ship of Athens, in 1780, were Fairbanks Moore and Fairbanks 
Moore, Jr., of Rockingham; John Moore, Jonathan Moore, and 
William Aloore of Putney. 

Appendix I. 
An Episode in Captain John Kathan's Family, 

Fairbanks Moore, Jr., grandson of Captain Fairbanks Moor, 
was born in Walpole, N. H., about 1753. He was twenty-two 
years old when he enlisted into the service of the Revolution and 
"Marcht for Ticonderoga," captured by General Ethan Allen, 
May 10, 1775. The famous fort was built by the French in 1755, 
and by them called Carillon, which means cJiiiuc of bells, in allu- 
sion to the music of the waterfalls at the outlet of Lake George, 
near it. 

Fairbanks Moore, Jr., married Elizabeth Davenport, bom Feb- 
ruary 5, 1756, and daughter of Charles Davenport, whose widow, 
Mary (Hart) Davenport, married Alexander Kathan, Esq., 
December, 21, 1806, when he was seventy-seven years old and 
she was seventy-four years of age. Esther Kathan was a daughter 
of Captain John Kathan, although no record of her birth appears in 
the old family Bible. There is a period of nearly five years be- 
tween the birth of Martha Kathan, May 8, 1736, and that of the 
next younger child, Daniel, February i, 1741. Esther was 
evidently born in 1737 or 1738. The authority for stating that 
Esther Kathan was a daughter of Captain John Kathan is found 
in History of Northfield, INIass., page 500: "Esther dau. of John 
Kathan afterwards of Putney, Vt., married Fairbank Moore son 



♦Letter of Thomas Bellows Peck, Walpole, N. H., June 24, 190). 



APPENDIX J. 



135 



of Fairbank a soldier in French and Indian war. He was killed 
at Brattleboro and his wife and children taken captive Mar 6 
1758, redeemed 1762. Esther was admitted to Northfield church 
Nov. 28, 1756. Children: A dau. baptized at Fort Dummer 
May ^29, 1751. Oliver bap. Nov. 26, 1756. A child bap. Feb. 

Attention is called to the fact that Esther, probablv, was not 
fourteen years old when her first child was born; that she married 
her cousm, Fairbanks Moore, soon after that unfortunate event 
and settled in Walpole, N. H. Her parents disowned the way- 
ward child and therefore did not register her name in the family 
Bible. The probabilities are that Captain Moore and Captain 
Kathan resided at Fort Dummer in 1751, and on account of the 
episode related. Captain Kathan moved up the river ei-ht miles 
and settled at "Bemas rock," January 5, 1752. 

Appendix J. 

The First Burial in Kathan Cemetery. 

Among the associates of Captain John Kathan during the first 
two or three years of his settlement was Captain Fairbanks Moore 
who married Judith Bellows, a sister of Colonel Benjamin Bellows 
one of the first two settlers in Walpole, N. H. They were mar- 
ried April 30, 1723, and, at the time of their settlement, had a 
family of seven sons. Their third son, Fairbanks, Jr., married 
Esther, a daughter of Captain Kathan, and settled in Walpole 
N. H. He came to Dummerston with his familv in 1756 prob- 
ably on account of his mother's illness and deaJh that vear in 
order to furnish a home for his father until some other provision 
was made. His son Benjamin married Margaret Kathan May 
II, 1755, and settled in Brattleboro in 1757. His father, Captain 
Fairbanks, decided to live with him in Brattleboro, and both were 
killed there by the Indians, March 6, 1758. The mother, Judith 
was not hvmg, as the Indians made captives of the rest of the 
family, and no mention is made of her. Her burial place was 
undoubtedly in the Kathan cemetery and the first among those early 
settlers. Her burial is reported in books of genealogy and the 
family histories as unknown. A recent correspondence with 



136 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

Thomas Bellows Peck of Walpole, a descendant of Colonel Ben- 
jamin Bellows in the fourth generation, and author of an admirable 
history, "The Bellows Genealogy," published in 1898, contained the 
inquiry, "Do you know when Judith Moor died ?" It is on record 
and in evidence that John Kathan, John Kathan, Jr., Fairbanks 
Moor, Fairbanks Moor, Jr., Benjamin Moor, and six other persons, 
were present in Dummerston and signed a complaint against 
Nathan Willard, commander of Fort Dummer in 1756. MSS. in 
office of Sect. State Mass., LXXV., 547. The circumstances 
attending the death of Captain Moor and his son Benjamin, 
March 6, 1758, are in evidence that Mrs. Judith Moor was not then 
living, hence the conclusion that her death occurred a year or two 
previous to that tragical event. 

Appendix K. 
Kathan's Ferry. 

Hall's History of Eastern Vermont, page 109, is authority for 
stating that Kathan's ferry was established in 1752 between West- 
moreland, N. H., and the proprietary of Dummerston. The 
charter records at Concord, New Hampshire, disclose the following 
information in regard to ferries chartered in Westmoreland, N. H. : 
Vol. 5, page 218, to Micah Reed in 1786. Vol. 5, page 224, to 
Solomon Robbins in 1786. Vol. 12, page 150, to Joseph ]\Iarsh 
in 1799. Vol. 15, page 174, to Nahum. Goodenow in 1804. The 
Kathan ferry is identified among these charters as the one granted to 
Goodenow, as it is called "The Rocks" in the charter. According 
to a statement made by Mr. Willard Bill, Jr., of Westmoreland, 
Mr. Goodenow then lived where Solon Chickering now, 1901, 
resides, only about one-half mile farther up the river than the ferry 
is at present. 

Appendix L. 
Moses Johnson, Born 1741. 

]\Iarried January 26, 1764, Margaret Kathan, the widow of Ben- 
jamin Moore, killed by the Indians March 6, 1758. She died "up 



APPENDIX M. 23»J' 

the lake," October i8, 1779, aged 49 years. He married second, 
Lydia, daughter of Peter Wheeler, born September 8, 1760, about 
1789. She died in Putney, April 16, 1819. He died about 1814 
Moses Johnson removed from Strafford, Conn., to Putney Vt and 
was one of the early settlers. In 1777, he, with others' began a 
settlement on land that now lies in the north part of Brookline Vt 
He was a soldier in the Revolution, and rose to the rank of lieuten- 
ant. February 2^, 1782, the Legislature of Vermont granted to 
him and thirty-three others a tract of land containing 5,040 acres 
. which tract was first called "Johnson's Gore," but which, November 
6, 1800, was mcorporated into a township under the name of Acton 
In 1840 Acton was annexed to Townshend. In 1792 Mr John- 
son removed to Chesterfield, where he resided till 1804, when he 
returned to Putney. His daughter, Lucinda, bv second marriao-e 
born December 19, 1793, was drowned in the Connecticut, on tlie 
evening of July i, 181 1, at Kathan's ferry, as she was returning 
home from Chesterfield, where she had been on horseback It is 
supposed that she was pushed out of the boat by her horse. 

Appendix M. 

The Johnson House, Standing Near the Kathan Meadows. 

Captain Ashbel Johnson settled on lot No. 29 adjoining the 
Kathan meadows, and in 1793 was living in the old house,'' now 
unoccupied, standing a few rods above the Corser house. He 
was a resident of Dummerston in Revolutionary times, was born 
May 22, 1750, and died January 20, 1823. His wife, Jail John- 
son, was born March 6, 1755. They had a family Jf thirteen 
children, of whom Samuel, the tenth child, was born December 29, 
1789. His daughter, Malona, married December 25, 1845, Henry 
B., son of Gardner Kathan, and brother of Gardner S. Kathan now 
hvmg. Marshall Pierce and wife, then living at the upper end of 
the meadows opposite Gardner Kathan's, attended the wedding. 
The old Johnson house faces toward the northeast, and the handte 
on the front door is high water mark when the annual spring 
freshets of the Connecticut river were highest on the meadows, 
which are always covered with water in the spring of the year. 



138 history of kathan family. 

Appendix N. 

Memorandum Notes in a File of Old Almanacs and Law 
Books of Alexander Kathan. 

It was the custom of Alexander Kathan to keep a memorandum 
in his almanacs of events in farming interests and other matters 
worthy of note. These almanacs have been preserved and are 
filed on a leather string. They are in possession of his descendants 
now living in Dummerston. The first one in the file is for the 
year 1764, and the numbers down to 1781 were published by 
Nathaniel Low. Later numbers were published by Isaiah Thomas. 
A few of the events therein recorded will be of interest in this 
publication: "March 19, 1764, tapped trees, made 21 lbs. of 
molasses." "February, 1765, tapped trees, and sugared off 
18 pounds on the 26th." "April 6, 1778, made off 10 lbs. of 
sugar; that's the first this season." "Nov. loth 1773 raised the 
meeting house." The first one erected in Dummerston. "May 
19th, 1780, remarkable dark day." "April 5th, 1781, a man and a 
horse crossed the river on the ice." "The 2d Sabbath in the same 
month snow was knee deep in the field and solid." "Snow ist 
day of April, 1785, thirty-four inches deep on a level." "19th 
old snow knee deep, new snow." May 26th, put in seine and 
catch no shad." "May 30, catch shad." "March 31st 1786, no 
snow." "2d day of April, terrible storm of wind, and snow fell 
knee deep." "17th began to plow." "March 29th 1787, burnt 
out the basswood stub and scart out two flying squirrels." "May 
loth 1788, the mountains covered with snow." "Aug. 19th, a 
hurricane." "March 1803, what a sight of pigeons did fly all the 
13th." "June 6th 1804, set tobacco." "Aug. 29th, cut up 
tobacco." "Mrs. Kathan sea a robin on the 9th of February. 
Robins here seen til the 17th." "March 5th, sea two robins." 
"July I2th had string beans." "the 22d had new tatoes." "Feb- 
ruary 1811, killed no rats in the corn house in one day." 

Alexander Kathan's Law Books. 

Mr. Kathan was a trial justice many years and accumulated quite 
a library of law books, which were "divided or sold as his heirs 
could agree," after his death. Those sold at auction were bought 



APPENDIX N. ]^39 

mostly by lawyers in Brattleboro. Among- the few books reserved 
by the heirs is a copy of the "Laws of the State of Vermont " print- 
ed m Rutland by Josiah Fay in 1798. In this book are manv of 
Mr. Ivathan's legal memorandum notes written in a very neat, 'leg- 
ible hand. In this volume appears an act of the legislature that was 
passed October 28, 1797, "granting to Daniel Taylor, and his asso- 
ciates, the privilege of erecting a toll-bridge over West River in the 
town of Dummerston." They were made a body politic and corpor- 
ate, by the name of "The second West River Bridge Companv," and 
to continue b,y the same name one hundred years. The first one 
incorporated to build a bridge over West River was that of John W 
Blake and Calvin Knoulton, and their associates, of Brattleboro 
October 16, 1795, to build a new bridge over West River, in place 
of the old one then standing near the mouth of the river on the 
Grate road" leading from Putney to Brattleboro. The Dum- 
merston company were to build their bridge "at the most conven- 
ient place within two miles each way of the said Daniel Tavlor's 
now dwelling house, in said Dummerston." The bridge was'built 
within eighteen months after the enactment, below the house of Mr 
Taylor and above the site of the Bridge schoolhouse now standing 
1901, near West River. The old toll house was standing not very 
many years ago just below "Taft's tavern." The rates of toll for 
crossmg the bridge, as fixed by law, were: For each passenger 
two cents; horses and cattle, each three cents; each chaise or sulkey' 
ten cents; each loaded cart or wagon, sixteen cents, unloaded, ei-ht 
cents; single sleigh or cart, six cents, double teams twelve cems • 
each chariot, coach, phaeton, or carriage of pleasure, fifty 
cents. These rates not to be changed until fortv years from lan- 
uary 1st. 1799. The first bridge was washed away by a sp'rino- 
freshet in 1826, and a second one built on the same foundation 
within eighteen months, the time allowed for rebuilding the same 
he second bridge was washed away about 1839 and r;built lower 
down the river just below the schoolhouse. The third brid-e was 
washed away in 1869, and a fourth bridge, now standing, wa^s built 
some eighty rods lower down the river in 1871. 



140 . history of kathan family. 

Appendix O. 

Captain Timothy Lull. 

Among the associates of Captain John Kathan, not elsewhere 
reported, was Captain Timothy Lull, who came from Ipswich, 
Mass., to Dummerston soon after 1761. He was ancestor of E. P. 
Lull, commandant of the Boston navy yard in 1883, at which time 
he visited Dummerston in quest of information about Cap- 
tain Lull. In May, 1763, Captain Lull concluded to remove to 
Hartford, Vt. He bought a log canoe, and taking with him his 
family, which consisted of a wife and four children, and such fur- 
niture as they needed, paddled up Connecticut river. Arriving at 
the mouth of a certain stream in Hartford, he anchored his boat and 
landed his family. Taking a junk bottle, he broke it in the presence 
of his wife and children and named the stream Lull's Brook — the 
name by which it has ever since been known. Proceeding up the 
brook about a mile, he came to a deserted log hut, situated near the 
place now called Sumner's village. Here he commenced a settle- 
ment. For many years he suffered privations and hardships, "but 
possessing a strong constitution and a vigorous mind, he overcame 
all obstacles and died generally lamented." His son, Timothy, was 
the first child born in the town. His birth took place in December, 
1764, and on this occasion "the mid-wife was drawn by the father 
from Charlestown, upon the ice, a distance of twenty-three miles, 
upon a handsled." Thompson's Vermont, Part 3, page 88. 

Appendix P. 
Conduct of William Moore. 

He was one of the early settlers of Putney, born December 10, 
1733, and brother of Abijah ]\Ioore of 'that town. Judge Noah 
Sabin of Putney was regarded as a Tory in principle at the time of 
the affray at Westminster, March 13, 1775, and was for a time sub- 
jected to many annoyances. He was taken prisoner on this occa- 
sion and confined in the court house at Westminster for a few days, 
then carried to Northampton and afterwards to New York, where 
he was imprisoned. He was subsequently tried, honorably acquit- 
ted, supplied with clothing and ample means to return home to 



APPENDIX P. -f^-j 

PtUney after more than a year's absence. Soon after his return, 
Wilham Moore, Daniel Jewett, and Moses Johnson, committee men 
ot Putney, accompanied by a party of their friends, armed with 

lit' "'"nu ^"'" ^'°"''' °'^'''^ ^"" ^° "^^""^ ''^' h^'-^e -nd fol- 
low them. Obeying their commands, he was conducted to West- 
mmster,_ where he was placed in the jail. Many were the threats 
used to mtimidate him during this transaction. His imprisonment 
however, lasted but a day. In the evening the door of his cell was' 
opened, and he was allowed to return home. On his deathbed 
Moore, who had been the principal actor on this occasion, sent fo; 
Judge Sabm, confessed with tears the abuses of which he had been 
^udty and besought his forgiveness. On being assured t.at" 
request was granted, ''Now," said he. ''I can dfe in peace." M 

whaT nr .°'l"' "'S^""'-" °' ^" '''-^'''^'^ P— ^i- --il- to 

Kath.,^ r Tn "''' '"^ ''^'''' ^-^"^"^P^^d °" Alexander 

Kathan. Esq., of Dummerston, because they regarded him as a Torv 

m prmciple after the affray at Westminster. Thev took away hi's 

gun and subjected him to other annoyances ; but the'^:ood citizens of 

tl"hL7his gum "'" ''" ""'"' '"' °^'"^' ^'^" '' ''^'^'^ 

Early Religious Worship Near Kathan Settlement. 

The first church organized north of the settlement was in West- 
mmster, June ii, 1767, with nine members, Rev. Jesse Goodell being 
he first pastor. Religious meetings were first held in Putnev at the 
house of Joshua Parker, by whom they were conducted. A meet- 
ing house was built in 1773. The first church was organized Octo- 
ber 16, 1776, with four members, Rev. Josiah Goodhue being the 
first settled pastor. November 7, 1764, the first church was formed 
m \\ estmoreland, N. H., with eight members. Rev. William God- 
dard bemg the first pastor. The first meeting house in Dummerston 
was raised November 10, 1773, and religious meetings were held 
the year ensuing. It was customary for the town to vote that some 
one should carry on public worship on the Lord's dav," and John 
Hooker was elected to that service in 1775. The church was organ- 
ized August 18, 1779, with sixteen members. Rev. Joseph Farrar 
being the first settled pastor. The earliest religious worship near 
the Kathan fort, was eight miles down "the river at Fort Dummer 



142 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 

when, by legislative act of Massachusetts in 1724, permanent reli- 
gious worship was established there for the garrison, and Indians 
within reach, Daniel Dwight, of Northampton, being the first chap- 
lain chosen to the post the same year. In a valuable historical 
paper published in The Vermont Phoenix, February 23, 1900, on 
"Early Religious Worship" in Vermont, the following information 
is given : 

"If the earliest devotions in the state were tO' be sought for, those 
of Mrs. Rowlandson, wife of the minister at Nashaway, now Lan- 
caster, Mass., who was brought captive to King Philip at the bend 
of the river in Vernon, Vt., March 9, 1676, and, 'being a very pious 
woman of great faith, the Lord wonderfully supported her under 
this great affliction so that she appeared and behaved herself among 
them with so much courage and majestic gravity that none durst 
offer any violence to her, but on the contrary (in their rude man- 
ner) seemed to show her great respect,' would seem to be noticed. 
The devotions of Sergeant Plympton, who, with about eighty others 
were the first white people to go up the Connecticut river so far and 
were captives on the meadow above the lower ferry in Dummerston 
opposite Catsbane Island, several weeks in the fall of 1677, could 
not be overlooked, as he was burnt at the stake in Chambly on the 
river Sorel in Canada, for adhering to his faith." 

The story of the capture of Rev. John Williams of Deerfield, 
Mass., and his family, familiar to every American school boy, would 
also have to be considered. On Sunday, March 5, 1704, the prison- 
ers were allowed to rest. Their halting-place was at the mouth of 
Williams river, whence its name, in the present town of Rocking- 
ham, Vt., where Pastor Williams delivered a discourse to the rem- 
nant of his people taken captives with him, from these words : 
"The Lord is righteous ; for I have rebelled against his command- 
ments ; hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow ; my 
virgins and my young men are gone into captivity." Lam. i :i8. 
The service closed with the singing of a hymn, and was evidently 
the first preaching of a sermon by a Protestant clergyman within 
the state. The French and Indians reached Deerfield on the even- 
ing of February 29, 1704, and the sacking of the town began at 
midnight. By sunrise they had killed forty-seven of the inhabitants 
and one hundred twelve were taken captives. They burned 
every building in the town except the meeting house and one dwell- 



APPENDIX R. 



143 



ing- After all, the earliest stated services were at Fort Dum- 
mer in 1824. 

Instead of the first visit of white men to Dummerston being made 
m 1724, as given in the history of the town, it was made in the fall 
of 1677 on the meadows in the southeast comer of Dummerston 
where eighty-one whites in captivity were located several weeks.' 

Appendix R. 

Revolutionary Soldiers of Dummerston in the Service Dur- 
ing 1779-1783; Recorded in Adjutant and Inspector-Gen- 
eral's Office, Montpelier, Vermont. 

A pay roll of Captain Jason Duncan's companv of militia in 
Colonel John Sargent's regiment in the state of Vermont for march- 
ing to Brattleboro sundry times by order of Colonel Saro-ent in 
order to surpress the disaffected party in said regiment in December 
1 7o2 : ' 



Jason Duncan, Capt. 

Daniel Gates, Lt. 

Benj. Estabrook, Ensign. 
Jonas Walker, Ensign. 
Seth Duncan, Sergt. 
Joseph Hildreth, Sergt. 
Nathan Davis, Corp. 
Samuel Laughton, Corp. 
Caleb Graham, Corp. 
Leonard Spaulding. 
John Wyman. 
Lemuel Davenport. 
Josiah Boyden, Capt. 
Jesse Hildreth. 
Benj. Howe. 
Caleb Sargeants. 
Simeon Johnston. 
Benj. Alvord. 
John Negus. 
Charles Davenport. 
Wm. Middleditch. 



Joseph Haven. 

Joseph Shaw^ 

William Negus. 

Elihu Sargeants. 

Russell Bigelow. 

Rufus Sargeants. 

Arad Holton. 

Jesse Knight. 

Isaac Miller. 

Dan'l Kathan. 

Timothy Spaulding. 

Eben Brooks. 

Justin Sargeants. 

Dan'l Brooks. 

Oliver Rice. 
Joseph Gilbert. 
Nath'l French. 
George Taylor. 
Joel Knight. 
Jona Tainter. 
Smith Butler. 



144 



HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 



Levi Benias. 
John Miller. 
Henry Balcome. 
Andrew Haskell, 
Abel Butler. 
Thos. Burnham. 
Patrick McManus. 
Oliver Hartwell. 
Wm. Kelley. 
David Button. 
Lemuel Graham. 



Benj. Whitney. 
Alex. Kelley. 
Asa Button. 
Calvin Butler. 
Silas Fairchild. 
Jacob Laughton. 
Moses Taylor. 
Reuben Spaulding. 
Nathan Cook. 
Bavid Laughton. 



DUMMERSTON SOLDIERS IN AN EXPEDITION TO BeNNINGTON IN 

1777. 

Captain Josiah Boyden, a member of Captain Jason Duncan's 
company in 1782, was the captain of a company in Colonel William 
Williams's regiment of militia in the service of the United States on 
an expedition to Bennington, etc., in 1777, composed of soldiers 
from Putney, Brattleboro and Dummerston. The members from 
Dummerston were : 



Capt. Josiah Boyden. 
Lieut. J. Shepard Gates. 
En. Thomas Barnes. 
Sergt. Daniel Gates. 
Thomas Clark, 
Parmenas Temple. 
John French, 
Seth Duncan. 
Asa Dutton. 
John Scott. 
Samuel Nichols. 
Smith Butler. 
Samuel Kelley. 
Joseph Hildreth, Jr. 
Marshall Miller. 
William Negus, Jr. 



Reuben Spaulding. 
Leonard Spaulding. 
Enoch Cook. 
Samuel Knight. 
Jesse Hildreth. 
Benj. How. 
Beniah Putnam. 
John Killbury. 
Sergt. Rufus Sargeant. 
Corp. Rufus Sargeant. 
Corp. John Wilder. 
Arad Hoi ton. 
Beniah Putnam. 
Thomas Dutton. 
Nathan Wright. 
Charles Davenport 



Putney 3d Sept. 1778. Personally appeared the above named 
Josiah Boyden and made solemn oath that each of the persons in 



APPENDIX R. 245 



the pay roll were in the service of the United States the number of 
days affixed to each of their names and that neither himself or any 
other person (to his knowledge) had received any pay therefor 
Sworn before me, Date above, this Pay Roll examined by Jonas Fay 



Putney Sept. 3, 1778. 



Jonas Fay 

Ira Allen^ Committee appointed. 



Rec'd of Ira Allen, Esq. Treasurer of the State of Vermont 
Eighty one pounds the contents of this pay roll. 

Pr. Josiah Boyden Capt. 
Pay per day is. 8d. each man. 



PLAN OF FORT DUMMER. 

From an Article in The Vermont Phoenix. 

Fort Dummer, the first settlement in Vermont, was the home of 
Captain John Kathan and his family in 175 1, the year previous to 
his settlement in Dummerston, and according to his own statement, 
he with his family came January 5, 1752, to settle at Bemis rock on 
the Connecticut river "eight miles from Fort Dummer," where his 
first grandchild was baptized May 29, 1751, and from which place 
she and her husband removed and settled in Walpole, N. H., in 

1752. 

The work of building the fort was begun February 3, 1724, and 
built under Colonel John Stoddard by Lieutenant Timothy Dwight 
of Northampton, Mass., who was the first commander of it. ''Four 
Carpenters, Twelve Soldiers with narrow axes and two Teams" 
was the force at Lieutenant D wight's command. So vigorously 
was the work carried forward that by April i it was so far com- 
pleted as probably to be occupied with a garrison of thirty-eight 
officers and men, to whom, by April 21, were added eleven friendly 
Indians. By May, 1724, Lieutenant Dwight asked permission to 
bring his family to the fort, and here was born within the stockade 
on May 2.^, 1726, Timothy Dwight, the father of the future first 
President Dwight of Yale College, and great-grandfather of the 
present (1896) president. 

The fort was in shape an oblong running in length northeast and 
southwest, with a corner cut off forming a short side on top of the 
bank of the river. It was built of yellow pine timber covering the 
meadow, hewed square, laid up about twenty feet high and locked 
together at the corners. The northwest side was about one hundred 
and fifty feet long, the southwest one hundred and twelve, the 
southeast eighty, and the short side on the bank of the river about 
twenty. It had a double two-story house in the southwest corner, 
with two fireplaces below, and one in a chamber; a two-story house 
in the northwest corner, with two fireplaces below, and a one-story 
double house adjoining it along the northwest side; a two-story 
house in the northeast comer with two fireplaces below, a watch box 



This 




Plan of Fort Dummer. 



This engraving is an exact reproduction of a tracing of the original drawing made in 1749 and recently found among the New Hampshire 
archives. At the right is the Connecticut River, upon which the Fort cornered. 



PLAN OF FORT DUMMER. 147 

in the short side on the bank of the river, a gate in the southeast and 
southwest sides, and a covered underground way under the short 
side to the river. The walls of the fort made the outer walls of 
the houses, and the inner walls of the houses were built like the 
walls of the fort, with single roofs sloping from the walls of the fort 
inward, and doors and windows opening within the fort, which 
could be closed and barricaded. 

The first commander, Captain Dwight, was succeeded by Captain 
Joseph Kellogg in 1727 and his successor was Colonel Josiah Wil- 
lard from 1740 to 1750. He was succeeded by his son, Major Josiah 
Willard, for about four years, and he for a somewhat uncertain time 
by Nathan Willard, who was the last commander and was placed in 
command as sergeant in 1754. From the description in a deed the 
fort appears to have been standing in 1772. Probably it did not 
remain long after that date. Captain Nathan Willard died March 
12, 1784, in the sixtieth year of his age and was buried in the family 
lot in the old cemetery at Vernon, Yt. 



Concluding Maxim. 

"They who never look back to their ancestors will never look 
forward to posterity." — Burke. 



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